When popcorn popper Bill Loverde announced a Hillbilly Kettle Korn product expansion, he was talking cinnamon, sour cream and chives.A few more flavors on his kernels of corn.
But the business of a kettle corn popper, says Loverde, entails more than just the fun of swishing popcorn kernels around until they burst.
It's a money-making proposition, albeit one that he's considering selling.
Loverde became a popper seven years ago, attracted to the life of a popping concessionaire by the prospect of moonlight money.
He bought into Hillbilly Kettle Korn, a national turnkey food concession, with an investment of $10,000.
"We started with a tent and a popper," he says.
Plus some unpopped kernels.
With his investment, he acquired seasonings made from the Hillbilly secret family recipe handed down through 100 years of Arkansas poppers.
Loverde, an Argentinian by birth, was initiated into the life of a popper on the advice of his son.
(The son started a kettle corn concession in Idaho and has since sold it.) New concessionaires can earn $300 to $400 per hour, Hillbilly Kettle Korn advises prospective poppers.
"We made a total of $50 the first day out," says Loverde.
It was Cinco de Mayo.
He and Olga Loverde, his wife and partner, recall it vividly.
The wind blew the tent down and the customers never came.
The aroma of churros wafted overhead, overpowering the fragrance from Loverde's popcorn.
It was a learning experience, says Loverde.
Now, his concession business is one of the most successful in the Hillbilly family of business associates.
He makes, easily,more than the $700 promised as a possible for veterans.
Kettle corn is popular.At events such as the Sparks Farmers'Market, the Reno Championship Air Races and the annual Nugget Rib Cook-off,"you can't see the end of the line," says Loverde.
That's a good thing for business but a long day for a one- or two-person concession facing a 10-hour street fair.
Loverde has built his business up to include five mobile units and two trailers.
In a seasonal business, with events overlapping each other on busy weekends, and with all units out and busy, being a popper can be a hustle."It's a cash business, too," says Loverde.
The owners need to be on hand to oversee the money flow.
And the upside? The money's good, and unbeknownst to the outsider, there's a postevent party on most fair days.
Sometimes it's a pot-luck, sometimes a tailgate, and other times a restaurant gathering.
There's fun in being a popper.
Loverde's success has elevated him to advisor for new investors considering becoming poppers."I tell them that if you can survive the first year, you'll be OK," he says.
The secret is in more than just the recipe.
It's in the networking, the choice of events, and in investment in popping equipment, trailers, event fees and licenses.
Of the three major sales channels for his popcorn event, store and Internet sales the events make up 75 percent, says Loverde.
And 25 percent is in store sales.
He supplies Scolari's,Winco, Sak N' Save, plus some casinos, with kettle corn.
Internet sales are more of an annoyance than a profit center.
Shipping costs added onto the corn costs equal more than customers are willing to pay.
Loverde, too has invested in equipment for cotton candy and funnel cakes and added them to his offerings, a profitable investment.
At one event last year, he says, he sold 7,200 funnel cakes, from three booths, at $5.50 to $6 each.
So, why sell a business that's making money? The time investment, says Loverde, is what is driving him toward getting out of the business.
Long weekends, when other families are getting together, his family is
out popping corn, separately.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment