Mann Made Poppin Machines
 
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Welcome to The Original Kettle Korn
Mann Made Poppin' Machines
 

About Kettle Korn™

Small Kettle Korn KernelThe Truth of it's Origin
Not too many years ago The Original Kettle Korn™ operated the only Kettle Korn web site on the Internet. After pulling up countless stories about Kettle Korn™ we felt it was time to put the rumors to rest. Old time sugar corn has been around for hundreds of years. Many of you may remember your great grandparents and grandparents talking about or even making sugar corn long ago. The old time sugar corn that your ancestors spoke of was just that "Old Time Sugar Corn," not" Kettle Korn™! Contrary to popular belief, Kettle Korn™ does have a beginning! One of our competitors that claims to have the "REAL STORY" bought his first popper from us in 1996 and had never seen or heard of Kettle Korn before he saw us at a show in Texas. Another "ME TOO" company. Buyer beware!!!

You've probably noticed on many web pages that "a Missouri farmer" or a "Midwestern farmer" popped sugar corn in a large cast iron kettle over a wood fire and began selling it at various shows. That farmer is Bill Mann, father to Gary Mann who is President of both Colex Plus, Inc. and The Original Kettle Korn™. The Kettle Korn™ name represents the Mann family and our product, a slightly sweet, slightly salty popcorn.

Our name, "The Original Kettle Korn™" means just what it implies... the first of it's kind. Ruth Mann(Gary's mother) coined the trademark name Kettle Korn™ in Missouri in the 1980's. The name Kettle Korn� didn't exist prior to the Mann family who reintroduced a type of sugar corn under the Kettle Korn™ name.

Small Kettle Korn KernelThe Commercial Kettle Korn™ Popper
The Mann family came up with the idea of a spring-loaded popping machine after popping popcorn by hand in rural Missouri. Bill and Gary had to hoist the large iron-popping kettle by hand in order to deposit the finished product into another container. The Mann's recognized the potential of mass-producing popcorn using unique methods and started to work on designing a machine that would allow them to cook the corn with one person. Instead of lifting the popping kettle by hand they designed the spring-loaded popper, which involved only one person popping and dumping with ease. It was the Mann's idea that revolutionized the popcorn industry.

Gary Mann continued to refine the concept and sold their product at more and more shows across the United States. He knew their idea was a great one when "ME TOO" companies began appearing on the scene and copying their design. When they noticed others attempting to duplicate their popping machines and serving a bastardized product, they decided to commercially manufacture the kettles themselves in order to insure quality control and to protect their name.

Several essential features of the Mann Made Poppin' Machine® were perfected by Gary & Bill while collaborating on refining the popper for commercial use. The poppers and other related equipment are still evolving as more ideas are designed, tested, and patented by our research and development team. As our product and processes evolve The Original Kettle Korn™ continues to lead the industry in innovation and design of popcorn popping machines and concessions operations.


Small Kettle Korn KernelThe Kettle Korn Challenge
Today, many of the Kettle Korn™ companies advertised on the Internet and through various publications are among the above mentioned "ME TOO" companies. After we started selling our poppers commercially, many of our Kettle Korn™ vendors felt that just popping the corn wasn't enough and began selling a duplicated version of our Mann Made Poppin' Machine©. They began manufacturing copies in spite of the fact that they signed a contract that prohibited duplicating the machine in any manner. They failed to honor a contract with us, and you might question if they would honor a contract with you. Some of the "ME TOO" companies are those who watched someone popping Kettle Korn™ and decided to duplicate the machine unaware of the trademark, copyright, and patent infringement protected under common law. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

The Kettle Korn™ Challenge is this: To all of you who know any type of history about Kettle Korn™ prior to ours, we challenge you to present us the evidence. Weaver Popcorn Co. traced the name "Kettle Korn" back to us as the origin of the name. We should have presented this page years ago when we first noticed "ME TOO" companies, however we never dreamed that our Kettle Korn™ would become the household name that it is today.
 
 
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