Butterkist is a brand of

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...

owned by

KP Snacks KP Snacks is a British producer of branded and own-label maize-, potato-, and nut-based snacks, "Choc Dips" and nuts. The ''KP'' stands for “Kenyon Produce”. The company is based in Slough, England, UK. History The company was founded in ...

. It is the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's best-selling brand of popcorn.

History

In 1914, Fred Hoke and James Holcomb began to sell popcorn machines in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

under the brand of Butter-Kist. As their business developed, vendors began buying popcorn machines and the brand began to spread. In 1938 Butter-Kist machines made their way to the UK via an unknown route, developing the brand as in the United States through sales to

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

audiences. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the brand developed quickly, thanks to the many

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

personnel stationed in the UK ready for the invasion of Europe. After the Second World War, Craven Keiller developed a factory in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

to sell Butterkist branded popcorn direct to cinema chains. As many items were rationed in the UK post the Second World War, but the basic ingredients of Butterkist were not, the brand developed into the UK's lead selling popcorn brand. The sales of the brand then followed the development and decline in cinema audiences, so that after the boom of the 1950s and 1980s, by 1998 sales were on another downturn and Craven Keiller sold the brand to

Cadbury Trebor Bassett Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

, which in 2000 merged the brand into its

Monkhill Confectionery Valeo Confectionery formerly known as Tangerine Confectionery and Toms Confectionery is a British confectionery company with its headquarters in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Since 2006, it had grown through acquisitions into one of the largest i ...

subsidiary and moved production to

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. As part of its development strategy selling off non-core brands, from April 2006

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

put Monkhill into a group of non-core brands it would review putting up for sale, and from June 2007 appointed investment bankers

Investec Investec is an Anglo-South African international banking and wealth management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Investec is dual-listed on the London ...

to review the sale of Monkhill Confectionery, and its best selling brand Butterkist. Butterkist, along with other Monkhill brands, was sold to

Tangerine Confectionery Valeo Confectionery formerly known as Tangerine Confectionery and Toms Confectionery is a British confectionery company with its headquarters in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Since 2006, it had grown through acquisitions into one of the largest i ...

in February 2008. The Butterkist brand was sold once again on 17 July 2017 to

Varieties

As of 2023, the following varieties were available: * Salted * Microwavable Salted * Sweet * Microwavable Sweet * Sweet and Salty * Microwavable Sweet and Salty * Toffee * Orange Chocolate Toffee

References

External links

ButterkistMore About Butterkist
{{Foods featuring butter British confectionery Popcorn brands Cadbury-Schweppes brands Foods featuring butter

History

Varieties

See also

References

External links