Anyone every been involved with this as an enterprise? Every time I go to a festival of some sort, the longest line is always for kettle corn! What's involved? Good idea?
Anyone every been involved with this as an enterprise? Every time I go to a festival of some sort, the longest line is always for kettle corn! What's involved? Good idea?
I can only assume that the $6-8 bags are only $1 worth of raw materials to make. Once you recoup the kettle/trailer and other equipment overhead it becomes quite lucrative. Finding the correct ratio of salt/sugar and cooking time/temp is the tricky part I'd imagine.
My only experience with it is standing in line and eating it.
Kick it up a notch, caramel corn with Chesapeake Bay seasoning makes for an even stronger sweet/salty flavorful combo.
Only experience I have is in digestion.
Most of the kettle korn vendors here look like clones of one another. There is nothing to make them stand out. Some corn popping in a nasty looking kettle, lots of bags of cold kettle corn laying around for sale.
Except for one.
His is a much cleaner and prettier operation. He has a very visible tumbler chute (converted oyster sorter actually) that drops out all the unpopped kernels, so all you get are perfectly popped big pieces. He never sells cold bags, only freshly popped. He always has a line of people waiting to buy his. From the moment he opens until he closes he is constantly selling.
one of my customers was a Kettle Corn franchiser. I had the kettles spun out of stainless steel and polished on the outside. that was 10+ years ago and they bought lots of them.
This looks like a license to print money to me if you are in the right part of the country:
foxtrapper wrote: Most of the kettle korn vendors here look like clones of one another. There is nothing to make them stand out. Some corn popping in a nasty looking kettle, lots of bags of cold kettle corn laying around for sale. Except for one. His is a much cleaner and prettier operation. He has a very visible tumbler chute (converted oyster sorter actually) that drops out all the unpopped kernels, so all you get are perfectly popped big pieces. He never sells cold bags, only freshly popped. He always has a line of people waiting to buy his. From the moment he opens until he closes he is constantly selling.
Never fails. Provide a great product and people will love you!
Rusnak_322 wrote: one of my customers was a Kettle Corn franchiser. I had the kettles spun out of stainless steel and polished on the outside. that was 10+ years ago and they bought lots of them.
Interesting. Are you in fabrication?
foxtrapper wrote: Most of the kettle korn vendors here look like clones of one another.
Interesting. Most of the Kettle Korn Vendors around these parts look like Cletus' family.
I wonder about their basic cleanliness and in no way want to ingest anything that comes from those scorched black kettles. Serious down on their luck carny type element. They setup in grocery store parking lots when there isn't a fair type thing going on.
One of the neighbors of a family I go to church with does nothing but go to state fairs during the summer time and have a booth of something like kettle corn. They make out like bandits from what I've been told.
In reply to dyintorace:
I've got a better idea, and I won't even charge you a franchise fee! 
My ultimate-epic-unforgettable fair-food idea???
Deep-fried battered pickles on a stick....
...called "Dill-doughs" 
I bought two $8 bags at the Grundy County (IL) Corn Festival two weeks ago. I asked the owner where her Mercedes was parked. She had a line like you wouldn't believe.
petegossett wrote: In reply to dyintorace: I've got a better idea, and I won't even charge you a franchise fee!
That got a true LOL. Love it!
Datsun310Guy wrote: I bought two $8 bags at the Grundy County (IL) Corn Festival two weeks ago. I asked the owner where her Mercedes was parked. She had a line like you wouldn't believe.
That's been my experience too. Every time we go somewhere that has a kettle corn vendor, it's BY FAR the longest line and is busy the entire time. For me, it would be a part time gig. An event here and there.
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