20 replies to this topic

[Lex]

This just goes to show what happens when you're not paying attention. They've had a blog since January. Let them tell their story in their own words.

I have a confession. I am an incorrigible snacker. I graze all day.

I am also a foodist. I want to eat pure unadulterated food that is sustainably grown. Food that is produced responsibly from farmers that consider themselves stewards of the land. From nourishing crops that aren’t genetically modified and loaded with chemicals. From animals that graze freely and aren’t pumped full of hormones.

I don’t want to scrutinize all my food labels only to find out later the companies aren’t exactly what they seem. I want a delicous snack company that I trust to use the right ingredients, and to treat their relationships and the environment responsibly.

Pop Karma Brand Pillars
Posted on January 13, 2012



The foundation for Pop Karma, even before the recipes, were our brand pillars. We brainstormed a lot of ideas since there’s so much we want the company to stand for, but four values were blindingly obvious:

Excellence in our products, our relationships and our actions
Authenticity in our communications, our food and our behavior
Responsibility for the environment, our partners, and each other
Inspiration for all that we encounter, including ourselves

The ancient pillars in the photo above were built nearly 2000 years ago in the city of Palmyra.

[Lex]

The have a Popcorn Chef. He is French.

Meet Le Popcorn Chef
Posted on January 15, 2012

Nothing in this life happens without other people. Even the tortured artist that creates alone wasn’t born alone. She was inspired by an experience from someone, even if it was negative.

Pop Karma came to be because of a myriad of people, all to whom we are very grateful. We are thankful to have uber-talented Stephane Lemagnen on board as our Chef Consultant and one of our inspirations.

Chef Stephane didn’t have the good fortune of growing up eating popcorn since he’s French, but he has a highly honed subtle palate and is acutely aware of food trends. He grew up in Gascony, France and attended cooking schools in the Pays Basque and in Paris. He has cooked in a number of Michelin starred restaurants including the famed “Le Crillon” in Paris, then worked in New York City restaurants, most recently at Café Boulud. In 2006 he developed and opened a critically acclaimed avant-garde dessert bar in New York called “Room 4 Dessert.” He is now a private chef with a gorgeous website, zencancook.com, which showcases his cooking talent.

[splinky]

This just goes to show what happens when you're not paying attention. They've had a blog since January. Let them tell their story in their own words.

I have a confession. I am an incorrigible snacker. I graze all day.

I am also a foodist. I want to eat pure unadulterated food that is sustainably grown. Food that is produced responsibly from farmers that consider themselves stewards of the land. From nourishing crops that aren’t genetically modified and loaded with chemicals. From animals that graze freely and aren’t pumped full of hormones.

I don’t want to scrutinize all my food labels only to find out later the companies aren’t exactly what they seem. I want a delicous snack company that I trust to use the right ingredients, and to treat their relationships and the environment responsibly.

Pop Karma Brand Pillars
Posted on January 13, 2012



The foundation for Pop Karma, even before the recipes, were our brand pillars. We brainstormed a lot of ideas since there’s so much we want the company to stand for, but four values were blindingly obvious:

Excellence in our products, our relationships and our actions
Authenticity in our communications, our food and our behavior
Responsibility for the environment, our partners, and each other
Inspiration for all that we encounter, including ourselves

The ancient pillars in the photo above were built nearly 2000 years ago in the city of Palmyra.

those are ruins...

[Lex]

They take themselves very very seriously and can see the face of humanity in a single popping kernel.

Cool Popcorn Popping Video
Posted on February 8, 2012

Chef Stephane found this high speed video from Modernist Cuisine of a single popcorn kernel blooming into a full blown piece of popcorn. Watch it, it’ll make you smile and it’s only 12 seconds. He thinks it looks like a person throwing their arms up. (It does). I think part of the magic of popcorn is that kernels all start out looking the same. Then you add pressure in the form of heat, and when it gets to a certain level, the kernel blooms into an individual shape. Kind of like people. We’re all born with unknown potential. Then add life, and we keep blooming into individual works of art.

Pop Karma is Air Popped
Posted on January 14, 2012

When Stephane, Pop Karma’s uber-talented Chef Consultant and I first started talking popcorn, we debated air-popped vs. oil-popped. Air popping requires nothing but hot air – if you give popcorn enough heat, it will pop. Oil-popping provides the heat source through hot oil – you are frying the kernals.

Stephane thought we should air pop since we would be adding healthy ingredients in our recipes. I thought maybe we should oil pop, like movie theaters.

Air-popping gives you pure popcorn taste. Oil-popping adds more flavor and fat – after all, you’re frying it. According to the USDA, three cups of airpopped popcorn is 92 calories and 0.5 grams of fat (0.1 grams of saturated fat). The same amount of oil-popped popcorn adds 79% more calories and 780% more fat since it is 165 calories and 4.4 grams of fat (1.6 grams of saturated fat).

After some recipe testing, it turns out Stephane was right. Our recipes build on pure popcorn taste, and besides, we want to serve you the healthiest food possible. Pop Karma Popcorn is air-popped.

I was given a hot air popcorn popper years ago. "Cool" I thought. "I don't need oil and it will keep the calories down."

You know what it also kept down? Flavor. The popcorn tasted flat, more like cardboard than actual popcorn. Salt bounced off of it because it there was no oil for it to stick to.

They are not entirely nuts. They are adding olive oil after they pop the corn. So much for that calorie count.

[Lex]

Not only do they have a Popcorn Chef - they have Popcorn Artists. Soulful popcorn Artists. Fuck me.

The space is coming together, Chef Stephane has created outstanding recipes, our packaging has arrived, we love our neighborhood, we’ve found amazing suppliers and our tiny team now includes some soulful Popcorn Artists. Even our banner has been hung.

And they have a logo.

We are delighted to introduce… the Pop Karma logo! The initial designs are now complete. Thank you all for your feedback along the way, it helped shape this design. Infinite thanks to Jaffe & Partners for translating our verbal musings into a beautiful visual design. They nailed it.

Our logo captures Pop Karma’s lighthearted and serious approach to food. The field of popcorn at the bottom of the logo and in the stamp captures the sheer fun of popcorn. The sumi-e circle represents how seriously we take our food. What we eat and how it is produced makes a difference, and we never stop thinking about how to make you the best possible food so you can enjoy the fun of it.

[hollywood]

Have you sampled it? How's it compare with, say, Popcornopolis?

[Lex]

Have you sampled it? How's it compare with, say, Popcornopolis?

They soft opened yesterday. I went through my gourmet popcorn phase 20 years ago. It lasted about 3 weeks. I'll leave it to the Yelpers to report on this one.

I'm the closest thing to a professional cynic you'll ever find so the whole idea strikes me as precious and overblown. That said, it may be emblematic of the zeitgeist. At Smorgasburg there's a stand that sells artisanal pigs-in-a-blanket for $2 each.

[joethefoodie]

I was given a hot air popcorn popper years ago. "Cool" I thought. "I don't need oil and it will keep the calories down."

You know what it also kept down? Flavor. The popcorn tasted flat, more like cardboard than actual popcorn. Salt bounced off of it because it there was no oil for it to stick to.

Exactly. I make popcorn the old-fashioned way - with oil, in a 3 quart pan, on top of the stove. There isn't much better than Orville's, in my opinion.

[splinky]

Have you sampled it? How's it compare with, say, Popcornopolis?

or jack's corn crib?

[taion]

These idiots realize that the most likely wild precursors of the corn they're frying looked like the wimpy thing on the left, right?

[hollywood]

Have you sampled it? How's it compare with, say, Popcornopolis?

They soft opened yesterday. I went through my gourmet popcorn phase 20 years ago. It lasted about 3 weeks. I'll leave it to the Yelpers to report on this one.

I'm the closest thing to a professional cynic you'll ever find so the whole idea strikes me as precious and overblown. That said, it may be emblematic of the zeitgeist. At Smorgasburg there's a stand that sells artisanal pigs-in-a-blanket for $2 each.

I saw some pigs-in-a-blanket at a dim sum place over the weekend.

[Sneakeater]

If I had to pick my two favorite foods in the whole world, they would probably be pigs-in-blankets and pizza.

[joethefoodie]

If I had to pick my two favorite foods in the whole world, they would probably be pigs-in-blankets and pizza.

You could always open up a joint and call it...let's see...Sneakeater's!

[Wilfrid]

If I had to pick my two favorite foods in the whole world, they would probably be pigs-in-blankets and pizza.

Sausage rolls are better, because (can be) bigger.

[Orik]

I think it's time for pig in a pizzacone.

Notice that they link to their olive oil supplier, the most disingenuous brand in the world:

http://www.frankorganics.com/

I was wondering why the founder was only presented as "Doug"... he was probably trying to make it more difficult to realize he's batshit crazy:

How I Healed My Back Without Surgery or Drugs

By Doug Tedeschi

Two years ago, my doctors told me I’d never run again. I’d never lift, push or pull anything heavy. My back was so messed up I wasn’t even supposed to bend at the waist.

...

The second step was to get out there and do all the things my doctors told me not to. I signed up for a duathlon (bike plus run), because cycling was the number one activity my doctors prohibited. I’d lift heavy objects with abandon, bend at the waist, swing a golf club. I even ran a Tough Mudder.

Though this sounds dangerous and crazy, it was the most powerful way to let my subconscious mind know I was on to what it was doing. (To refrain from these activities would be to admit to my subconscious mind that I believed my back was actually hurt.) Once my subconscious knew for certain that the jig was up, there was little point in carrying on the ruse anymore.

Sounds crazy? Well, it is, until you try it and it works. I haven’t felt a twinge of pain since I changed the way I thought and lived.