The Untold Truth Of SkinnyPop

The popcorn business has come a long way since Orville Redenbacher sold stove-top kernels in a pan. People haven't needed to pop their own for nearly a decade, when the business of ready-to-eat, bagged popcorn really started to boom. Pre-popped popcorn became so popular, in fact, that the Redenbacher company itself eventually jumped on the trend. But one of the leading names in store-bought popcorn, undoubtedly, is SkinnyPop, a popcorn brand that promises to not only taste great, but be better for you compared to its rivals. Now, whether or not that's actually true has been a topic of debate. SkinnyPop has even been sued over the claim and, admittedly, their definition of "skinny" isn't based on traditional nutrition facts you see on the side of a box.

Nevertheless, there's no denying SkinnyPop is a major player in the popcorn market. The Hershey corporation acquired it for $1.6 billion in 2017 and, four years later, SkinnyPop seems as in-demand as ever, with its reported 2021 profit margin over 23%. It's also caught on in pop culture, at one point becoming the go-to snack for binge-watching hit TV shows. How did SkinnyPop get here and what secrets could it be hiding? Read on for SkinnyPop's untold truth.

SkinnyPop's two founders, Andy Friedman and Pam Netzky, didn't come from the food industry at all. Both were struggling entrepreneurs who had tried their hands at various unsuccessful ventures first. Netzky had aspirations of becoming a professional golfer before starting a spa company that never took off. Friedman, for his part, came from a finance background. Both based in the Chicago area, they teamed up in 2007 and launched Wells Street Popcorn, a popcorn brand that, ironically, was anything but wholesome. Intended to rival a local brand called Garret's, Wells Street Popcorn featured high-calorie caramel and cheese flavors.

"We had a nice little business," Friedman has said, "but we were very off-trend. And we knew we had to come up with a better-for-you popcorn option." With the rise of the healthier snack wave, they pivoted to create SkinnyPop. They eventually divested themselves from Wells Street to focus on their new brand, but credit the experience with giving them valuable know-how of the popcorn business, especially how to make it more affordable to shoppers. "With Wells Street, we bought the most expensive ingredients," Friedman explained to the Chicago Tribune. "To sell that in a grocery store, you'd be selling a little bag of caramel corn for $10. Plain popcorn works because of the ingredients. You can use unbelievably expensive sunflower oil, but you don't need much with plain popcorn."

The SkinnyPop name wasn't created by advertising execs or from the results of a focus group. While speaking to the Hyde Park Angels podcast, co-founder Andy Friedman says it was actually born on the fly. "We sat in the office. We came up with the name in about five minutes or less. There were a few other names out there that we liked, but SkinnyPop was the one we stuck with."

And while the name certainly is catchy, it's also been quite controversial. In addition to the lawsuit filed by two dissatisfied customers who claimed it was deceptive, industry experts also noted the brand's somewhat confusing message. "Don't expect SkinnyPop to make you skinny," Marketwatch said in a 2015 report that asserted it was actually higher in both calories and total fat than other brands. Still, credit where credit is due when it comes to SkinnyPop's wordplay, one person recently posted on Reddit. "Skinny Pop has made a whole ass successful brand with huge profit margins by carefully advertising the health benefits of plain popcorn," the person commented. "It's kind of genius."

You wouldn't necessarily think a company like Hershey, known primarily for its chocolate, would be interested in a snack brand like SkinnyPop. But SkinnyPop's growth potential apparently proved too hard to pass up. In 2017, Hershey acquired Amplify, SkinnyPop's parent company, for a whopping $1.6 million. Doing so kept Hershey up with the times, CNBC claimed, reporting that American snacking trends were moving away from candy and cookies in favor of salty or savory options, including popcorn. Two years earlier, it had acquired beef jerky operation Krave, then so-called healthier chocolate label barkThins. And several years after its SkinnyPop acquisition, Hershey's also purchased Pirate's Booty, another popped snack food brand in the better-for-you category.

Hershey wasn't the only major corporation attempting to change its course and to cash in. Campbell, a brand known mostly for its soups, bought pretzel company Snyder's, while Kellogg and Mars each went into business with RXBAr and Kind Bar, respectively. For Hershey, both SkinnyPop and Pirate's Booty proved profitable investments. As recently as 2021, consumer demand for both had increased steadily.

Olivia Pope, the lead character on the ABC series, "Scandal," was arguably one of the most popular fictional characters on television during the course of its seven-season run. And how did Pope, a top-level government "fixer," like to wind down after a long day of putting out political and public relations fires in the Oval Office? With a big glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn. SkinnyPop was quick to jump all over the marketing potential of this pop culture moment, releasing a suggested SkinnyPop and wine-pairing chart to accompany the show's latest season. Depending on the viewer's favorite popcorn flavor, SkinnyPop would offer their recommended vino.

SkinnyPop's timing and cleverness paid off. Not only did bloggers promote the wine pairings, stars of the show soon turned into outspoken SkinnyPop fans. Bellamy Young, who played the First Lady on "Scandal," admitted it was one of her go-to guilty pleasures while actress Katie Lowes, whose character was Olivia Pope's right hand, shared that her mom served up SkinnyPop for the series finale, telling E! News, "My mom's got a really thick accent and she's like, "I got a bottle of wine. I got us a bag of SkinnyPop for tonight."

Thanks to the reported hundreds of millions they made from SkinnyPop, it's safe to say its co-founders, Andy Friedman and Pam Netzky, were probably set for life. But as it turns out, better-for-you nutrition seems to be a passion. Since moving on from the day-to-day running of SkinnyPop, both continue to invest their time and money into newer health companies. Friedman advised one of his young Chicago neighbors on the creation of Quevos, a high-protein, low-carb, egg-based snack chip In 2019, Netzky joined the board of directors for COCO5, a hydrating sports drink that comes in a variety of flavors and relies on coconut water to provide valuable electrolytes. 

And while she hasn't confirmed it, Netzky's also getting into the marijuana business, according to the Chicago Sun Times, having been granted a license to grow, infuse, and transport it for pot-related business purposes. "I'm an entrepreneur in my blood," Netzky has said. "It's very hard and very stressful, and there are a lot of sleepless nights. It's a completely different life — it isn't for everyone. But when you're doing it right and it's working, it's fun."

Those who liked SkinnyPop's birthday cake variation really, really seemed to love it. Purewow gave it a perfect score on both taste and aesthetics, calling it a "sweet-salty masterpiece," and wondering if the new, limited-edition flavor was, in fact, the brand's best flavor yet. Many consumers agreed, with one Walmart shopper admitting that, while they had had reservations about trying the flavor, it had become their top pick. "This is my favorite flavor yet," another declared. "I really hope this flavor is here to stay."

Other SkinnyPop fans feel strongly about its older flavors. The Betches blog placed aged white cheddar at number one in its definitive SkinnyPop ranking, calling it a miracle and urging its readers to simply "Buy.This.Now." For what it's worth, pepper jack and jalapeño placed second and third. One Redditor heartily agreed, highly recommending the brand's aged white cheddar and pepper jack as well. SkinnyPop co-founder Andy Friedman, for his part, has shown partiality to white cheddar, too, telling the Bootstrapping America podcast: "It's good stuff."