Grand Rapids Downtown Market merchant Dorothy & Tony’s Gourmet Popcorn will soon have their iconic kettle corn available for purchase beyond West Michigan as the business lands a deal that will put their products on shelves in specialty stores and universities throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois.
Dorothy & Tony’s Gourmet Popcorn has been a staple in Grand Rapids since the early nineties when Dorothy and Tony Meyer began selling their kettle corn at local farmers markets. The familial hobby quickly cultivated the couple a loyal customer base, their days at the farmers market highlighted with long lines and sold out inventory. When they retired in 2009 they passed on the family business and secret kettle corn recipe to their grandson, Kyle Behm.
“Kettle corn is a fun, yet healthy snack, and our family recipe is delicious,” said owner Kyle Behm. “It’s the perfect snack to share with the whole family. So when my grandparents retired and left the business to me, I knew we had the potential to expand beyond farmers markets.”
Behm grew the business into a local retail space, then later moved on to become one of the first merchants at the Downtown Market. Now, Behm has grown the business outside of West Michigan through a deal with a local brokerage company with a streamlined distribution process. Tyler Richardson, manager of the Downtown Market shop, is poised to oversee this new venture.
“We’ve experimented with having our kettle corn in chain grocery stores in the past and found that, through the typical distribution process, our product would sit on trucks and in storerooms for so long that it wasn’t up to our freshness standards,” said Richardson. “Preserving the quality, freshness, and flavor of this generational kettle corn recipe is so important to us. No matter where you buy a bag of our popcorn, I want it to have the same sweet aroma and fresh taste it does when you buy it at the Downtown Market. I trust that we’ve found an efficient distribution process that will meet our standards and allow us to share Dorothy & Tony’s with the midwest.”
Dorothy & Tony’s Gourmet Popcorn intends on having all of the classic flavors like kettle, cheddar, caramel, Chicago, and white cheddar, along with the more adventurous dill pickle and jalapeno white cheddar flavors, distributed across the midwest beginning this fall.
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