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Gutwein Popcorn to give FW Expo visitors a snack

By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

FRANCESVILLE, Ind. — Nothing tells the story of culinary technology like popcorn – the quest for a more perfect, healthy bowl of the snack has kept appliance inventors in business for decades.

There was the kettle; then, there was the pan, shaking it over a burner, listening for the ideal time lapse between slowing pops the same way a doctor measures an expectant mother’s contractions. Expandable foil-covered aluminum pans gave way to small stovetop buckets with a handle and a stirring paddle – and every kitchen that’s been through the 1970s probably has an air popper stashed somewhere.

But whether it’s destined for a shaken pan, a commercial popcorn machine or a microwave bag, growing popcorn crop in the field has had the same basic requirements.

“You’ve got to start with a good selection of seed, and timely planting in the spring,” said Harvey Gutwein, proprietor of Gutwein Gourmet Popping Corn, based in Francesville. Fortunately, this spring’s wet weather didn’t cause much delay. “We got along pretty good around here.”

Good seed will result in a plant with strong standability, disease resistance and yield, just like field corn, but also takes “pop” and taste of the final product into account. Of course, the grower also has to worry about using the right amount of fertilizer, pest control and disease pressure.

“And then, water – the water!” Gutwein exclaimed, adding nearly half of Gutwein’s crop is irrigated. “Moisture control is very critical for popping.”

In 1998, the Gutweins established their own popcorn brand. For the four years prior to that, they had grown popcorn for other companies – and still do – and for nearly 90 years before that, they’d been farming on the same land Gutwein’s grandfather, Philip Sr., had acquired in 1906.

Today, the Gutwein family and five other growers farm nearly 3,000 acres of popcorn crop in the Francesville area. This has grown each year, shooting up from only 600 acres (and fewer growers) just three years ago. Gutwein started by selling conventional popcorn, but added microwave corn a couple of years later.

The company sells light, butter and kettle microwave popcorn, as well as the regular variety of kernels for stovetop or other popping, in small two-pound packages or a 50-pound bag. It recently added certified organic kernels to its lineup.

Gutwein’s also offers businesses and individuals an unusual advertising opportunity: Promotional inserts tucked into the individual cellophane wrapping of microwave popcorn. Farm World has used this service for years, handing out packages of Gutwein popcorn at trade shows and other events, with the company card to remind snackers who we are.

Entrepreneurship is nothing new for the Gutweins. Philip Sr. started Gutwein Milling along with his farming operation in the early 20th century and in 1936, his sons started a seed company. Harvey Gutwein, 56, worked for the seed company until 1992.
Two of his sons, Tyler and Lance, oversee production and farming, respectively, for Gutwein Gourmet Popping Corn, and daughter Heather helps out part-time. (Gutwein and his wife, Ellen, have two other adult children, Stuart and Nicole, who are not in the business.)

“Once we started growing it, we were doing testing and our quality was really high,” Gutwein said of the crop, part of which the family still sells to be used in other brands of popcorn.

What is packaged for the Gutwein label is harvested and stored in bins with plenty of air blown in to bring the moisture down to 13.5 percent, which is a little lower than ideal stored field corn. Having just the right moisture in the kernel is important, since that – and applied heat – is key to it popping correctly. In processing, the corn goes through a screen cleaner, a gravity table to separate kernels by size and weight and then a color sorter.

While popcorn is growing in popularity around the world, Americans still consume more than people of any other country and most of the world’s popcorn is grown in the United States, according to The Popcorn Board, the industry’s checkoff organization. It also stated Americans consume 16 billion quarts of popped corn each year.
Gutwein’s isn’t supplying nearly that many customers, but it is growing. Gutwein said it is planning to expand its processing operations in the next couple of years, probably by building a new facility in or near Francesville.

To order Gutwein Gourmet Popping Corn visit www.gpopcorn.com

7/22/2009