Popcorn Shed is a kitchen table start-up. Sam and I – we’re cousins – spent months in my mother’s home kitchen experimenting with popcorn recipes and managed to break a popcorn machine and a hob in the process. As recipe development continued to create the perfect-tasting popcorn, so did the mess and we were banished to the garden shed in my mother's back garden. The family started referring to the shed as the ‘Popcorn Shed’, and that’s how we stumbled upon a name for the business. Our families are food-obsessed people and it has had a huge influence on our upbringing. All of our family celebrations have inevitably been food-based, and we manage to bring food to every important occasion of our lives. Our families have a rich culinary heritage, and good-quality food is a very important part of our lives and tradition. You could say it is in our blood. We did try a few different snack ideas, but during a trip to the US, we discovered gourmet popcorn and we were bowled over with how tasty the popcorn was and how many different flavour combinations there were across the pond. Popcorn is not only sweet and salted but it can be a healthy snack; it can be indulgent, covered in chocolate and caramel; a treat; a gift. It’s so versatile, the possibilities are endless. When we came back to the UK, feeling inspired, we set ourselves a challenge to make the finest and tastiest gourmet popcorn in the world, using flavour concoctions and textural inclusions that tasted better than the ones in the States. We wanted to start a business that would have a positive effect on the world, make people smile and prioritise flavour and quality. We have always loved popcorn as it brings people together. Popcorn is associated with happy memories, like watching a movie, sharing with work colleagues or snacking with friends on a long car journey.