Pop Secret facts for kids
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| Owner | Our Home |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1986 |
| Previous owners | General Mills (1986–2008) Diamond Foods (2008–2016) Snyder's-Lance (2016–2024) |
Pop Secret is a well-known American brand of popcorn. It is currently owned by a company called Our Home. Our Home bought the brand from the Campbell Soup Company in 2024.
Pop Secret popcorn was first introduced in 1986 by General Mills.
Contents
About Pop Secret Popcorn
Pop Secret first appeared in January 1986. It was originally called "Betty Crocker's Pop Secret." This name used the famous Betty Crocker brand, which belonged to General Mills.
Before Pop Secret, many microwave popcorn brands were kept in the freezer. But in 1983, another company released a new kind of popcorn. This popcorn could be stored on a shelf, not in the freezer. It cost more than regular popcorn.
General Mills wanted to make a shelf-stable popcorn too. They already had a frozen version under their Pillsbury brand. Pillsbury was known for refrigerated foods, not shelf-stable ones.
How Pop Secret Became Popular
Pop Secret launched with a big advertising campaign. By 1987, it became the top-selling microwave popcorn. Its main claim was that it worked well in all microwave ovens. This was true no matter how powerful the microwave was.
Older microwave popcorn often left many kernels unpopped. This was especially a problem with less powerful microwaves. Pop Secret claimed its "secret" helped more kernels pop. This made it a favorite for many families.
Changes in Ownership
Over the years, Pop Secret has been owned by different companies.
- In September 2008, Diamond Foods bought Pop Secret. They paid about $190 million for the brand. When this happened, Pop Secret no longer used the Betty Crocker name.
- Later, in 2016, Snyder's-Lance bought the brand from Diamond Foods.
- A year after that, Campbell's acquired Snyder's-Lance.
- Most recently, in 2024, Our Home became the new owner of Pop Secret.
Fun Sponsorships and Products
Pop Secret has been involved in some exciting sponsorships.
- It used to sponsor a NASCAR race. This race was called the "Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400" at Rockingham Speedway.
- Later, it sponsored the "Pop Secret 500" race at Auto Club Speedway.
Pop Qwiz and Film Support
In the early 1990s, Pop Secret made a fun product called Pop Qwiz. This popcorn came in different colors! You could find yellow, blue, green, and even a mystery bag with a surprise color.
Pop Secret also created the What's Your Pop Secret? Theatre. This project helped independent filmmakers show their movies. Pop Secret still supports Film Independent (FIND). FIND is a group that helps make filmmaking more diverse.
New Products and Disney
In 2014, Pop Secret introduced pre-popped popcorn. This popcorn came ready to eat in a bag.
On September 15, 2015, Pop Secret made a big announcement. It became the official popcorn for the Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort. Pop Secret also became the main sponsor for the nighttime show Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
See also
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