Smartfood
Encyclopedia
Smartfood Popcorn is a white cheddar
cheese
-flavored popcorn
offered by the Frito-Lay
company.
Smartfood, first created in 1985 by Andrew Martin, Ken Meyers, and Martin's wife Ann Withey in Hampton, Connecticut
. It was intended to fill recloseable packages that Martin and his business partner, Ken Meyers, were trying to market. Meyers was quoted in the New York Times as saying that "[t]he popcorn turned out better than the package." Smartfood was first marketed under the registered brand name in 1985, and was manufactured in Marlborough
, Massachusetts
.
According to Meyers: "Unlike the cheese popcorn already on the market, ours was made with real cheese and it didn't glow in the dark. We wanted quality and we were up against the negative consumer image, because prepopped popcorn in a bag was considered garbage, not worth the money because it's not fresh and you can make it better and cheaper at home."
In January 1989, the company was sold to Texas-based Frito-Lay for an undisclosed amount, but reportedly the amount was 14.5 million dollars . According to trademark filings in 2004, the company intends to expand the brand to cover a broad line of snacks made with potato, soy, nuts, puffed cheese, and a variety of grains (wheat, oats, rice, corn). However, this brand expansion is being opposed by Kellogg Company
, makers of Smart Start breakfast cereals. Originally, it had also made caramel-coated popcorn, but was discontinued from the lineup when Frito-Lay bought Cracker Jack
.
Ann Withey and Martin later formed Annie's Homegrown
, which markets macaroni and cheese, pasta, and other organic products.
In 20th Century Fox's 1994 drama film Nell
, the character can be seen eating Smartfood Popcorn.
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
-flavored popcorn
Popcorn
Popcorn, or popping corn, is corn which expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive...
offered by the Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay
Frito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...
company.
History
Hampton, Connecticut
Hampton is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,758 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
. It was intended to fill recloseable packages that Martin and his business partner, Ken Meyers, were trying to market. Meyers was quoted in the New York Times as saying that "[t]he popcorn turned out better than the package." Smartfood was first marketed under the registered brand name in 1985, and was manufactured in Marlborough
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
According to Meyers: "Unlike the cheese popcorn already on the market, ours was made with real cheese and it didn't glow in the dark. We wanted quality and we were up against the negative consumer image, because prepopped popcorn in a bag was considered garbage, not worth the money because it's not fresh and you can make it better and cheaper at home."
In January 1989, the company was sold to Texas-based Frito-Lay for an undisclosed amount, but reportedly the amount was 14.5 million dollars . According to trademark filings in 2004, the company intends to expand the brand to cover a broad line of snacks made with potato, soy, nuts, puffed cheese, and a variety of grains (wheat, oats, rice, corn). However, this brand expansion is being opposed by Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company
Kellogg Company , is a producer of cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles, and vegetarian foods...
, makers of Smart Start breakfast cereals. Originally, it had also made caramel-coated popcorn, but was discontinued from the lineup when Frito-Lay bought Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
.
Ann Withey and Martin later formed Annie's Homegrown
Annie's Homegrown
Annie's Homegrown is a Berkeley, California-based maker of natural and/or organic pastas, meals and snacks. The company, founded in Hampton, CT, is perhaps best known for its macaroni and cheese product line, which comes in shell form and bunny rabbit shapes, and is the second best selling macaroni...
, which markets macaroni and cheese, pasta, and other organic products.
In 20th Century Fox's 1994 drama film Nell
Nell (film)
Nell is a 1994 drama film starring Jodie Foster as a young woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. The film was directed by Michael Apted, and was based on Mark Handley's play Idioglossia. The original music score is composed by...
, the character can be seen eating Smartfood Popcorn.