Hemmings discovered kettle corn while on a trip to the US. For those of you that have never tried this tasty treat, it is popcorn that is kettle cooked, offering a not too sweet and a just a little bit salty treat. Hemmings pivoted his “better for you” business. Once back after his trip, he re-thought his business plan and decided that he would rather just sell kettle corn at these fes- tivals. Offering kettle corn meant that he would not have to construct the hut at the festival plus kettle corn involves less ingredients. So now Hemmings was travelling to festivals with popcorn, oil, sugar, and salt as opposed to all the fruit and things that he would have to ware- house in his garage until the festival and throw out afterwards. So, kettle corn was more cost
effective and no one else was making it 20 odd years ago, so the demand was amazing, and the festivals drew huge lineups of customers at these events. Hemmings saw an opportunity for a bigger business because it was a huge hit at the festivals, and he knew there was nothing in the grocery stores like it. Hemmings jumped at the opportunity to be first to market, mortgaged his house and started up a popcorn plant that would provide his tasty kettle corn to grocery stores. Business was popping, because nobody had it at the time, it was a very unique product, and it was a lot healthier than potato chips that dominated the snack food aisles at the time. Hemmings was
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
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