Describe your business in a nutshell
We produce a premium, everyday popcorn snack that comes in a variety of different flavours and is worlds apart from the popcorn people are used to eating in cinemas.
Generally popcorn is fried in a huge amount of oil, whereas we use a small amount of rapeseed oil. We also make sure that all the flavours are natural, made from scratch – there’s no off-the-shelf flavour.
How did the business start?
Cassandra [Stavrou, co-founder] spotted a gap in the market for a snack that was tasty and a healthy alternative to everything else out there.
I have run my own businesses – I’m a bit of a serial entrepreneur – and she used to ask me for advice in the early days. Informally we said: “Let’s work together, let’s see what happens.” After a couple of months we realised we made a good team, the product tasted great, and we had something that we understood.
How ambitious are you?
I remember writing a pretty ambitious business plan when we started, and both Cassandra and I are really ambitious. I feel it’s great where we are now but I still don’t feel like it’s a proper success. It’s only when we can look back and say we have built an iconic British brand that it will be a success. It’s really important that people think of us as the market leader.
Why has popcorn become so popular recently?
It’s the one part of the snacking market that’s growing year-on-year. What popcorn has done really well is it has hit the healthy snacking trend.
I think we were really lucky with our timing, but we wouldn’t have been able to do this completely by ourselves – it is great that we had competition.
What do you look for in your staff?
The most important part of our business is our team, so we are very, very particular about the people we employ. They have come from a mix of different backgrounds, sometimes through networks and friends of friends, and we are working with some recruiters as well. We look for people who are really positive, who have passion.
What’s been your biggest challenge in the business so far?
I think our biggest challenge has also been our biggest success – as we grow, how do we keep our culture? We do have a brilliant energy in the team – everyone feels part of the same thing and the same goal. Cassandra and I are constantly talking about how we maintain this as we grow.
What’s the Propercorn Platform?
It’s an initiative we are really excited about – we wanted to create an environment where 16- to 24-year-olds can apply with their ideas, and those offering the top 25 ideas will be selected to come in and receive training from various members of the Propercorn team in areas such as sales, marketing and operations – they will work with them for two days to bring their ideas to life. At the end of the two days they will get to pitch their ideas to a panel of industry experts.
What advice do you give to other food entrepreneurs?
The difference between a good idea and a bad idea is just those that do it and those that don’t – don’t be scared to take that risk and don’t leave any stone unturned.
Ryan Kohn is the co-founder of Propercorn
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