As Jonas Tempel pops out, Patrick Yee pops in.
Tempel, the founder and CEO of the flavored popcorn company Opopop, will fully hand over the reins of his company at the end of this year to Patrick Yee, the former chief marketing officer of the website Refinery29 and frozen food firm Daily Harvest.
Yee began working as a consultant for Opopop in April and became CEO in July. Tempel has been in a “very soft dismount” from the company since then.
“My run has been focused on fundraising, brand and production development,” Tempel said. “I’m handing that whole stack to Patrick to go beyond (direct to consumer) into broader retail channels.”
Tempel started Englewood-based Opopop in 2021. He has built out an online, direct-to-consumer model that he said will make over $7 million in revenue this year.
Opopop kernels are wrapped in flavors such as Super Butter, Cinnalicious and Maui Heat, so they come out of the microwave popped and already seasoned. Tempel said Opopop is the only company on the market using the technology.
“We are a flavor house,” Tempel said. “The only thing our competitors have is salt.”
Opopop sells an 11.3-ounce bag of kernels for $17 or $18, depending on the flavor. For comparison, a six-pack of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, which is 19.74 ounces, goes for $4 at Target.
“We’re expensive, but it’s because we use real ingredients. (Other companies) don’t give a crap about popcorn,” Tempel said.
“It’s a race to the bottom,” Yee said.
Other Opopop product options include a more snackable version dubbed the Pop Cup, which holds a smaller portion in a peel-and-pour setup and comes in a $17 three-pack, and product bundles for skeptical first-time or gift-givers that range from $50 to $325.
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He and Yee hope to replace Orville Redenbacher and other companies that have dominated the space for decades. They also see the entertainment business as a fertile market and hope to bring in studios, actors and directors to help with marketing.
“It’s about getting to people where they are already,” Yee said. At Daily Harvest, he helped the frozen-food brand triple in size as it landed in grocery stores across America.
Since September, Opopop has been …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Business
