It's National Popcorn Day: City Employees Share Popcorn Favorites
NATIONAL POPCORN DAY/City Employees Share Popcorn Favorites
RAPID CITY, SD--Friday (1/19/24) is National Popcorn Day, and most everyone has a favorite popcorn flavor, a brand of popcorn they prefer over others, and where they like to enjoy the popular snack. City employees were surveyed this week on their popcorn favorites and here are the results:
Favorite Popcorn Flavor:
A large majority – 54.5% -- favor the traditional butter and salt on their popcorn. Another 20% favor caramel popcorn and 18.2% favor cheese-flavored popcorn. Additional mentions were given to ranch-flavored popcorn, kettle corn, salt and pepper and sugar as toppings or flavorings of popcorn.
Most Favorite Brand of Popcorn:
When it comes to the dozens of brands of popcorn to choose from on store shelves, our survey respondents – by a large margin – prefer to stop by a local iconic business to get their popcorn fix. Elks Theatre popcorn was chosen from a large list of popcorn brands by 51.8% of respondents. The local favorite far outdistanced Orville Redenbacher popcorn (10.9%), homemade air popper with melted butter (5.5%) and Act II popcorn (5.5%); followed by Jolly Time, Smartfood Popcorn and Crunch n’Munch (3.6% each). Also receiving votes: Skinny Pop, Boom Chicka Pop, Jiffy Pop and Cracker Jacks.
What to Mix with Popcorn:
Many people like to toss in another treat in their bucket or sack of popcorn, such as a favorite candy item. One-half of survey respondents (50%) like to mix M&Ms with their popcorn. A respectable number – 14% - would not consider mixing anything with their popcorn. Another 10% would mix the popular candy items Hot Tamales or Mike & Ikes in with their popcorn. Milk Duds were a popular item to mix among 6%. Four percent said the best ingredient to mix with their buttered popcorn – more butter! Honorable mentions went to apples and even milk mixed in with their popcorn.
Best Place to Enjoy Popcorn:
More than half of survey respondents – 52.7% - enjoy their popcorn at the movie theatre with more than a third – 36.4% - prefer to enjoy a bowl of popcorn while watching television at home. Another 9.1% enjoy their popcorn anytime, anywhere and the remaining 1.8% prefer to eat popcorn at a sporting event.
Which Snack Do You Prefer?
When stacked up against three other popular snack items, popcorn comes out on top when stacked up against potato chips, pretzels and peanuts. A total of 51.8% prefer popcorn in the quartet of popular snacks with 33.6% choosing potato chips, and 7.3% each for pretzels and peanuts.