Scottish popcorn we hear you say, yes that’s right. Poporopo hand-make a range of gourmet popcorn air popped in Scotland. We’ve been lucky enough to try it, but first here’s a little bit about the makers behind Poporopo.
Who are you and what is it you do?
My name is Daman Bush aka the popcorn guy and I make Gourmet popcorn
How long have you been in business?
5 months
What is the story behind setting up your own business?
Upon returning to the UK after traveling I spent a lot of time at the cinema, it didn’t take long for me to grow bored of the 2 types of popcorn available so I did some research and found the world of gourmet popcorn. I experimented with loads of different flavours and slowly realised there was a market for this in Scotland, I attended my first show in October and it took off!
What has been the biggest challenge in getting your product to market?
Scale, it’s one thing making small batches for personal use every now and again, cooking on a large scale has proven very challenging, I still learn something new everything I cook a batch.
How do you decide what flavours to make?
Different ideas pop into my head everyday, not to mention the hundreds of suggestions I receive from friends, family and customers, I trial out as many as I can with a trip to the cinema, ones I love make it onto a list. My absolute favourites make it into my core range, which I hope to grow over the next few years.
How do you make the popcorn?
The popcorn is air popped simply because it’s the healthiest way, once it’s popped it’s coated with our traditional caramel made with only the best ingredients ideally from around Scotland!
What makes you stand out from other similar products?
Our focus on using Scottish produce where possible such as Graham’s dairy butter or Isle of Skye sea salt and many more collaborations in the pipe lines, we also use a type of kernel that is much larger than average to ensure each bite is packed with loads of flavour and plenty of crunchy caramel.
What is a typical day for you?
No two days are the same, being such a young business there is always something different going on as I find my feet and learn the ropes, lately I have been setting up a production facility while starting a journey with Entrepreneurial Spark (a business accelerator) so 2015 has started with a pretty steep learning curve and a lot of juggling different jobs.
What’s your favourite flavour you make and why?
It has to be Chilli & Lime, it took a long time to get the balance right, and when people have a taste it always puts a smile on their face when the chilli hits
Where can we buy your product?
We attend Urban Market in Glasgow every other weekend, and aiming to add a few more markets this summer, we also attend food shows and events around Scotland along side our online shop and numerous stockists around Scotland, we even have a stockist in Northern Ireland and already looking at export.
Our verdict: We loved the big kernels. They’re definitely fluffy and pack a good bite! My favourite flavour was the peanut butter and Mr Edinburger loved the ginger. The ginger he thought, had the slightest ginger taste but as you keep eating the warmth of the ginger begins to build. The chilli & lime is still to be opened but we’re saving this for our next film night 🙂 We recommend getting yourself some before you head off to the cinema or surprise friends when they come around.
Her x
I bought all four of the flavours last week on a bit of an impulse. So far I’ve tried the ginger, and chilli & lime.
Your write up made me smile as I thought exactly the same thing with the ginger: ” as you keep eating the warmth of the ginger begins to build.” With my first mouthful I expected more but it was very clever how it develops.
I encourage everyone to try them — four bags for a tenner, and free delivery. Perfect.
I have just opened the chilli and lime popcorn it is delish you start off with the sweet then the lime kicks in and then the chilli hits you’re tastebuds very Moreish and I love the chilli kick