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An Altoona native and her husband hope to strike it big in the popcorn business.
In 2015, Stacey (Miller) Freitag and her husband Nate started Free Day Popcorn Co. to provide consumers with the freshest popcorn available.
Growing popcorn can be a lucrative business.
According to the American Popcorn Board, Americans consume 14 billion quarts of popped popcorn annually. Popcorn sales in the United States have increased from 353 million pounds in 1970 to 1.178 billion pounds in 2015.
Free Day Popcorn is based in Belleville, Kan., and is grown just north of the border in rural Byron, Neb.
The couple met while attending Juniata College in 2004 and were married in December 2006.
Prior to relocating, Stacey worked as a community relations and volunteer coordinator at J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital, Huntingdon, while Nate taught social studies at Huntingdon Area High School.
Nate had grown up on the family farm in Nebraska and wanted to return home where his father, Lonny, had been growing popcorn for years on the farm that had been in the family for generations.
“Since my parents were here, it was difficult to move. We lived in Huntingdon for six or seven years, it was close to my family. He always said he wanted to move back, so it seemed like a possibility. He missed being on a farm, the pull kept getting stronger and stronger,” Stacey Freitag said. “This is a different world out here, a learning and growing experience.”
The Freitags didn’t plan to start a popcorn business when they moved in 2013.
“That was not on our radar at that point. My dad had been growing it for decades for commercial processors and different brands. We thought why not try to market it to consumers,” Nate Freitag said.
The Freitags started out selling “Popping Ears.”
“Last year, we started selling Popping Ears on a whim, and it became our runaway best seller. We sold out in just one month’s time,” Stacey Freitag said.
Popping Ears are ears of popcorn, handpicked from the field. The popcorn can be popped directly on the ear on which it grew by microwaving it. The popcorn literally pops off the ear. Popcorn kernels can be removed from the ear by using a hand shelling tool and then popped using any preferred popping method.
“It is a novelty item. I grew up on traditional microwave popcorn. You can stick the ear in a microwave oven or put it in a paper bag. If you don’t use a bag, it can get a little messy, but you can scrape it out into a decent-sized bowl from a single ear. You can put the ear in a paper bag and fold over the end of the bag. For a lot of people it is a novelty and the excitement of watching the first kernel pop off of the ear,” Stacey Freitag said.
“We’re taking you back to a simpler time, when you could purchase fresh popcorn directly from the farmer and actually be involved in the growing process,” Nate Freitag said.
The Freitags also sell their popcorn – which is planted in May and harvested in September and October – by the kernel in jars or burlap bags.
The two pound burlap bag, which sells for $6.95, is the most popular seller, Stacey Freitag said.
“We’ve been told that our popcorn is very crisp, you get fewer kernels stuck in your teeth, it pops up light and fluffy and crisp,” Stacey Freitag said. “We have some big popcorn eaters who say they can taste the difference.”
The Freitags only plant 15 acres of popcorn.
“Nebraska is the leading producer of popcorn in the country. Popcorn needs regular rainfall and needs cooler nights. In a good year, you may expect about 6,000 pounds per acre. We have 15 acres so we can produce 90,000 pounds of popcorn in a year,” Nate Freitag said.
Free Day Popcorn is sold online as well as in local stores in Kansas and Nebraska.
“Online sales make up about 25 percent of our business. We are in a number of local grocery stores. We cover a 30- to 40-mile radius. We are also in selected Hy-Zee stores and some gift shops in the area,” Stacey Freitag said.
Free Day Popcorn is sold at Star City Kettle Corn in Lincoln, Neb.
Co-owner Christy Whetstone said she switched from purchasing her popcorn at Sam’s Club because she had no idea where it came from.
“We decided to look for a local supplier. I found Free Day Popcorn online, contacted them, and asked for a sample to try before our season started. We liked it a lot and decided to purchase as much as they could sell us to get through our season,” Whetstone said. “We have found the fresher product pops easier with less “old maids” and hulls. It looked nice, held up during the bagging process, and tasted great. We had no complaints from customers that it tasted different from previous seasons. We plan on purchasing from them next year.”
The Whetstones also helped get Free Day Popcorn into the Hy-Vee grocery store in Lincoln, at which they also work.
“We simply passed on some samples of popcorn to our health market manager that Stacey and Nate provided us when they delivered our popcorn this past spring. She liked it, thought it would be a good fit for her department and found some shelf space for it,” Whetstone said.
The Freitags are basically a two-person operation.
In addition to farming, Nate teaches high school online for Insight School of Kansas, K12, Inc. while Stacey is a work-at-home mom, caring for the couple’s three daughters – ages 6, 3 and 18 months.
“I do marketing and sales calls, website, the packaging and billing. Nate does the farming and harvesting; we work together on the sales,” Stacey Freitag said.
“We couldn’t do it without my dad. He is an expert and gives us a lot of advice,” Nate Freitag said.
The Freitags hope to grow their business.
“Last year was a learning experience. We would love to sell out our harvest. We would love to be able to grow and supply popcorn to everyone. We would like to turn this into full-time jobs,” Stacey Freitag said.
Free Day Popcorn can be purchased at www.freedaypopcorn.com
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.