Female Founders
BY KERRY PIPES
MAMA POP
Doc Popcorn spreads smiles worldwide
R
enée Israel loves the smell and taste
of fresh, kettle-cooked popcorn.
When she and her husband Rob
spotted mom-and-pop kettle corn makers
at a farmers market in Boulder, Colo., in
the early 2000s, it got them thinking. How
could they bring fresh-popped flavored
popcorn to a wider audience?
“We spent the next few years perfecting a unique, fresh, flavored popcorn that
could be easily prepared on the spot,”
she says of their pet project, which they
named Doc Popcorn. They also developed
a variety of simple and flexible business
models for distribution in high-traffic
venues. Places such as convention centers,
entertainment venues, malls, and stadiums
could all sell popcorn from carts, kiosks,
or inline stores.
During the first decade of Doc Popcorn, they ran several stores themselves
in Colorado, honing and perfecting their
model. “Rob and I saw the potential in our
popcorn business,” she says. “When we
were ready to expand outside of Colorado
we turned to franchising. Our product
was simple, all the flavors could be made
with one machine, and with our different
methods of distribution we thought entrepreneurs would love popping a fresh,
better-for-you-snack in their own markets.” Their first franchised location was
in the Mall of America in 2010. It was a
big hit and they’ve never looked back.
Israel says part of her inspiration for
building a brand from scratch was that
she had always been interested in marketing and emerging brands. She had spent
5 years working for Digitas, where she
NAME: Renée Israel
TITLE: Co-founder, Mama Pop
COMPANY: Doc Popcorn
SYSTEM-WIDE REVENUE: N/A
NO. OF UNITS: 102 (2 corporate)
INTERNATIONAL UNITS: 8
GROWTH PLANS: 1 year, 120; 3 years, 150
PUBLIC OR PRIVATE? Private
YEAR COMPANY FOUNDED: 2003
YEAR STARTED FRANCHISING: 2009
YOUR YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 6
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