Tiny but Mighty Popcorn

Since 1854, the ancestors of Richard Kelty (1936-2015)[1] had been growing an heirloom popcorn variety out of small kernels, whose hulls would disintegrate after being popped,[2][3][4] resulting in a richer taste.[5] The popcorn had been introduced to the Kelty family by Native Americans, who shared it with them.[6][7] The Kelty family had never sold the popcorn, which was only grown for personal consumption.[7]

After Richard Kelty retired from the military in the mid-1970s, he obtained a handful of the corn from a relative and planted it on his farm in Urbana, Iowa.[7][8] Eventually, Kelty and his wife, Rita, annually planted four rows of popcorn behind their house, which later increased to ten rows after their friends and neighbors requested more for their consumption.[9] Kelty then chose to begin selling the popcorn,[7] and founded K&K Popcorn in 1981.[5] Kelty operated the business with his wife.[9]

By 1995, the popcorn operation had grown to include the entire Kelty farm, consisting of 125 acres (51 ha). At that time, the popcorn was available in nearly every U.S. state through mail order, and was also sold in local stores, including Hy-Vee.[9] A toll-free telephone number had also been installed recently to generate interest in the company.[9] Kelty's only marketing effort was to pop his popcorn at grocery stores and give away samples. CBS, as well as several magazines and newspapers, eventually reported about the popcorn; Kelty later said, "I've had people call me and say they've been trying to find out where they can get this popcorn at for two years after they saw one of the stories."[5]

The corn grown by Kelty was never hybridized or genetically modified.[3] Kelty's stalks would reach a height of four to five feet. Each kernel was capable of producing four to six stalks with three to four ears of corn each, unlike field corn.[9] Each ear of corn was grown to be less than three inches long.[9] The characteristics of Kelty's popcorn were created through open pollination, seed selection, and roguing.[5]

During the 1990s, Gene Mealhow, another eastern Iowa farmer, was working as a soil consultant.[3][10] Mealhow and his wife, Lynn, had been growing organic crops on their farm since 1989.[5] Gene Mealhow met Kelty in the early 1990s,[8] and they worked together to improve Kelty's popcorn crop.[11][3] The Mealhows purchased the company on July 1, 1999,[5] allowing Kelty to retire.[11] Kelty said about the Mealhows, "They embrace the concept of having this direct relationship between the customer and the producer that I think is so important for this product." At that time, the company had 130 acres (53 ha) of land for popcorn crops.[5] After the Mealhows purchased the company, they moved its processing equipment from the Kelty farm in Urbana to their own farm north of Shellsburg, Iowa.[2]

The Mealhows began growing the popcorn through an organic method that included farming the biology of the soil.[5] The corn was grown without the use of pesticides.[12] Shortly after the purchase, the Mealhows secured a $40,000 forgivable loan. The loan was secured with help by the Benton Development Group and the Marion Small Business Development Center, and was made through the Value Added Agricultural Products and Processes Financial Assistance Program (VAPPFAP), offered by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The loan was used to convert a building on the Mealhow farm into an upgraded popcorn-processing facility. The Mealhows also planned to launch a company web site and increase its marketing efforts.[5][13] Sales increased each month after the Mealhow purchase due to an expanded marketing effort,[13] which was led by the Mealhows' son, Nate.[2] As a result, the company increased to 320 acres (14,000,000 sq ft) to meet demand.[13]

In September 2000, K&K Popcorn received a second $40,000 forgivable loan through VAPPFAP. The second loan was used to finance additional processing equipment and storage space.[13] As a condition of the two loans, the Mealhows were required make it a necessity for local farmers to grow popcorn.[2] Fifteen growers had been contracted to grow popcorn for the company, which had expanded into the organic market.[13] By the end of 2003, the company had 18 contracted popcorn farmers.[12]

By October 2014, Tiny but Mighty Popcorn had eight full-time employees and more than 200 acres (81 ha) in Iowa and Illinois.[3] As of May 2015, the company had 18 employees and an annual profit of $3 million to $5 million, with average yearly sales of 1.6 million pounds of popcorn. Gene Mealhow expected to grow the company within three to five years for anticipated yearly sales of 15 million pounds of popcorn per year.[14]