Bimbo acquires Popcornopolis to enter snack market

Private equity firm NexPhase Capital has announced the sale of Popcornopolis to Barcel USA, the U.S. snack division of Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V. and manufacturer of leading snack brand Takis.

Popcornopolis was founded in 2003 by entrepreneurs Wally and Kathy Arnold. Today, it is a manufacturer and marketer of high-quality, indulgent, ready-to-eat popcorn snacks, including delicious Zebra, Unicorn and Double Drizzle varieties. The brand has products available across club, food, drug, mass, convenience and ecommerce channels.

NexPhase invested in Popcornopolis in 2019 with a focus on expanding distribution in the Food, Drug and Mass channels and growing its direct-to-consumer business. As part of the strategy, they launched a new line of everyday snack products. As a result, Popcornopolis saw record e-commerce growth in 2021.

“We have only scratched the surface of the potential of this brand, and we are excited to introduce more consumers to our wildly delicious, indulgent popcorn as part of Barcel USA’s leading snack platform,” said Danny Simon, chief executive officer of Popcornopolis. “We are grateful for our fantastic partnership with the NexPhase team, whose consistent support and strategic guidance have been instrumental to the exceptional growth of this brand.”

“We believe Popcornopolis makes the best permissibly indulgent popcorn, and with indulgent popcorn flavours outpacing the growth of the broader ready-to-eat popcorn category, we believe the company is poised for strong, continued growth,” said Doug Corbett, operating partner at NexPhase.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.