Pop Secret

Pop Secret is an American brand of popcorn owned by Our Home. Our Home acquired the brand from the Campbell Soup Company in 2024.

Pop Secret

Product type	Popcorn
Owner	Our Home
Country	U.S.
Introduced	1986; 39 years ago (1986)
Previous owners	General Mills (1986–2008) Diamond Foods (2008–2016) Snyder's-Lance (2016–2024)[1]
Website	popsecret.com

Pop Secret popcorns were introduced by General Mills in 1986.

Overview

The brand was first introduced in January 1986 as "Betty Crocker's Pop Secret," under the established Betty Crocker branding owned by General Mills.^[2] Early and established brands of microwave popcorn sold in the freezer section until Orville Redenbacher released a shelf-stable product in 1983, costing more than double a larger bag of regular popcorn. Consumers had to look both in the freezer and popcorn section for competing products, and General Mills was already selling its frozen version it had developed under the Pillsbury brand which was associated with refrigerated foods such as canned biscuits unlike shelf stable foods such as cake mixes. Backed by a $15 Million advertising campaign, Pop Secret took the market lead by 1987 on the claim it was the first brand suitable for all microwave ovens regardless of wattage.^[3] Unpopped kernels were a especially a problem with early brands and low wattage ovens, and the "secret" to overcoming this was known to home cooking expert Betty Crocker. Allegedly, more of her kernels would pop.

Pop Secret was purchased by the Diamond Foods in September 2008, for about $190 million, removing access to the Betty Crocker branding.^[4][5] Snyder's-Lance purchased the brand from Diamond in 2016 and the company itself was acquired by Campbell's a year later.^[6][1]

Sponsorships

Pop Secret formerly sponsored an annual NASCAR race called the "Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400" at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina, as well as the race it was replaced by in 2004, the "Pop Secret 500" at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Pop Secret created a variety of colored popcorn called Pop Qwiz [sic] in the early-1990s. Colors included yellow, blue, green, and a mystery bag with a surprise color.^[7] Pop Secret created the What's Your Pop Secret? Theatre,^[8] which showcased and supported independent film makers. Pop Secret continues to support Film Independent (FIND),^[9] a non profit organization that helps increase diversity in film making within the industry.

In 2014, Pop Secret introduced a pre-popped popcorn in a bag.

On September 15, 2015, it was announced that Pop Secret would become the official popcorn of the Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort, as well as becoming the title sponsor of the nighttime show Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World.^[10][11]

See also

• Food portal

• List of popcorn brands