Local popcorn maker talks shop on National Popcorn Day

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s National Popcorn Day, so a local popcorn maker had to talk shop with us about his business and what they’re doing for the big day.

The business is “The Cornivore Popcorn Company,” co-owned by Robert Mendez. Mendez and the Cornivores make nothing but popcorn – and plenty of it.

“We got popcorn all over the place, sometimes stacked to the ceiling,” Mendez said.

The business started eight years ago out of love for the snack, no matter who you are.

“My wife was really sick. She had a stroke and, when she came back from the stroke, she couldn’t eat a lot of artificial flavors so we couldn’t make popcorn like everybody else. She couldn’t do the corn syrup, so we had to create this whole new way of doing popcorn,” Mendez explained.

Mendez says the popcorn is done all in one step. For one flavor, they cook the popcorn inside the candy while they’re cooking the candy. That allows the core of the popcorn to be flavored with what’s being cooked in the pot.

The Cornivores have gluten-free flavors available and a New Mexican twist on the traditional popcorn.

“People really love green chile in New Mexico. We have a flavor called New Mexico Sunset. It’s a red-green chile cheddar,” Mendez said. “That’s one of our two popular ones. Of course, Biscochito is our number one New Mexico flavor that doesn’t have any heat.”

Mendez brought some popcorn into the studio for National Popcorn Day, as he talked about what his business is doing for some special freebies and promotions for the special day.

See the profile and interview with him in the video above.