Will Drought Pop the Popcorn Market?

1 of 2

Those huge paper bags of butter-drenched, super-salty, crunchy kernels may be a threatened species at the snack bar of your local movie theater. The worst drought since 1956 is frying corn plants before those yellow kernels can even reach the popping stage.

Mark Shew, a third-generation popcorn farmer, told Reuters: ”This is the worst season we’ve ever had. In some places, they’re going to be down to counting kernels at the bottom of the storage bins.”

America’s favorite movie snack will be scarcer, but don’t expect to pay higher prices soon. The handful of kernels that explode into cinema’s noisiest treat are a small part of what theaters pay to deliver the treat. Bob Goldin, Executive Vice President of Technomic told Reuters:

The price is already at nosebleed levels, and I think consumers would balk at further price increases, and secondly, and probably more importantly, is that the popcorn portion of the product is a very, very low percentage. So for a dollar bag of popcorn, which we never see, the popcorn portion alone is 5, or 6, or 7 cents. So an increase in the underlying commodity really won’t have much impact on margin for the retailer, and hopefully they will absorb it.

On the other hand, Marc Schober of Colvin & Co. told Reuters the popcorn sold in supermarkets is likely to cost 5 to 15 percent more if the drought doesn’t end soon.

Northeast Nebraska’s irrigated fields are doing better than those in some other states. In Iowa, some July rain ensured a reasonable crop. Elsewhere the drought has cut prospects, not just for the size of the harvest but also its quality. Radio Iowa interviewed Gary Smith, President of the American Popcorn Company, who said:

There is going to be a popcorn shortage because Indiana burnt up in June even, I mean, they didn’t even get started. And we’ve got a lot of competitors in the eastern cornbelt.

I think the test weights will be down. When the test weights are down, then maybe your pops aren’t quite as good, we might struggle with quality issues, but that’s the way Mother Nature treats the product. And I’m just grateful we’re going to have a crop”

Next: Americans Love Popcorn, But Will They Pay More?

1 of 2

Photo credits: Thinkstock

quick poll

vote now!

Loading poll...

no!
leaning no
leaning yes
yes!

no!
leaning no
leaning yes
yes!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Duane B.

8:00AM PST on Jan 13, 2013

Thank you for sharing.

January 13
send a green star

Vicky P.

2:05PM PDT on Sep 12, 2012

thanks

September 12
send a green star

Jennifer C.

5:59AM PDT on Sep 11, 2012

Thanks.

September 11
send a green star

Harshiita S.

4:26AM PDT on Sep 11, 2012

Thanks

Ajla C.

2:23AM PDT on Sep 11, 2012

TY.

John R.

7:32PM PDT on Sep 10, 2012

Suzanne B,

Now, if we would add to popcorn [lots of butter probably], red meat, fast food menus, processed foods and too many sweets, etc. America just might become a healthy nation once again.

NOW I LIKE YOUR THINKING!

Ask me what I grow in my garden --

September 10
send a green star

Sue M.

2:39PM PDT on Sep 10, 2012

Michael K.

10:01AM PDT on Sep 10, 2012

I can't stand the smell of popcorn. I don't eat corn or soy or anything made from them. Yes drought is a problem. Weather patterns today have been modified by our meddling with the ionosphere [HAARP] and the atmosphere - manufacturing pollutions, deforestation, oceanic pollution and overfishing; oil spills and chemtrails.