• Brandon Burt

The first one was free, they said. But all it took was one mouthful of Pop Art popcorn and I was hooked.

My name is Brandon, and I am a popcorn addict.

Oh, sure, it seemed harmless at first: At a party, I experimented with a bit of rosemary truffle. Then a friend turned me on to Thai coconut curry. But it wasn’t long before I was on the hard stuff: The white cheddar jalapeño blew my mind, and now I can’t even start the day without a hefty blast of white-pepper Parmesan.

The popcorn is a blend of SLC and NYC influences. Native New Yorker and event producer Venessa Dobson met her husband, Salt Lake City native and visual designer Michael Dobson, working at the Sundance Film Festival. Both world travelers, the two settled for a time in the culinary hotspot of Brooklyn, where their popcorn research garnered them finalist honors in New York’s Next Big Small Brand contest. Relocating to Salt Lake City, where they could “have a piece of dirt and grow a garden,” they founded Pop Art Gourmet Popcorn.

As the brand name suggests, the Dobsons have taken something traditional and prosaic and reinvented it; Pop Art is popcorn writ large on the sophisticated foodie palate. “Our goal is to take the everyday all-American snack and infuse it with new life and fun flavors,” Venessa says. “What Andy Warhol did for the Campbell’s Soup can, we hope to do for popcorn.”

The Dobsons are charming and fiercely innovative, testing out new flavors—such as nori & sesame and brown butter & sage—at local farmers markets. In 2013, look for a sweeter line to include all-natural ingredients like honey and maple syrup.

I just need one more fix. Really, just one more. But, since all of Pop Art’s products are organic, natural and GMO-free, this is one addiction that’s actually good for me.

POPARTSNACKS.COM
Available at Harmons and other local grocery stores