![]() Superpop's Michael Conole says demand for microwave popcorn is on the rise and there is a trend for new flavours. Superpop has been in the popcorn business for 26 years and delivers the Toscans' popcorn to more than 150 cinemas in Australia and New Zealand. There is also one major distributor and manufacturer, Superpop. There is one major seed supplier in Australia and the Toscans are their biggest client. The business of cinema popcorn is tightly controlled by just a few companies. "If it gets down to 11 per cent there's no bringing it back." The movie market monopoly "If there's a heatwave forecast and we've got a crop like this that's ready to go it'll drop more than one per cent moisture in a day," Mr Toscan said. "Once those stones get in there, a child in a cinema picks up that bit of popping corn, thinks it's a kernel, breaks a tooth and I get a complaint and a bill."įarmers must also calculate the perfect time to harvest their crops to ensure the moisture content of the kernel is between 13 and 14 per cent - which is required for the kernels to pop. "If it hits the deck you're going to get dirt in it so you've got to go over the top and leave it," he said. Mr Toscan says one of the biggest challenges is quality control. Kernel moisture content must be between 13 and 14 per cent for the kernel to pop. Not all types of corn pop and there are several challenges that make it difficult to produce. ![]() The Toscans also clean and package their produce, adding yet more value. The seeds are more expensive than maize and usually yield half as much, but traditionally popcorn fetches double the price. ![]() The Toscans started out as maize producers but branched into popping corn 11 years ago. Together they supply most of the nations cinemas. There are around 20 popcorn growers in Australia and Mr Toscan and his brother John are the biggest. "They just come in and just roll out truckload after truckload." the orders are going to come in," he said. ![]() "When you see those being promoted on the morning shows. "The best days we had with the cinemas were Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter," said Gerard Toscan, a popcorn grower at Darlington Point, south of Griffith. It is a long way from Hollywood but when blockbusters get released there is one family paying very close attention from their farm in the heart of New South Wales' Riverina.
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