RIDGEFIELD – The Prospector’s gourmet popcorn is now on store shelves two large New England supermarkets.
The nonprofit movie theater and popcorn maker dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities made the announcement Wednesday that several flavors of its Prospector Popcorn are now for sale at 21 Big Y stores throughout New England and the new Wegmans in Norwalk.
“Prospector Popcorn is a sparkly example of what’s possible when businesses invest in an extremely talented workforce that is too often underrepresented.” said Ryan Wenke, CEO of The Prospector. “Every bag creates dozens of jobs for people with disabilities, and allows consumers across the country to have a literal taste of our mission in action.”
Employees of the theater and popcorn businesses are known as Prospects, and approximately 75 percent self-identify with a disability. To date, The Prospector has employed 350 Prospects in its 11 years. It has sold more than 1 million movie tickets and 150,000 bags of popcorn. The nonprofit has provided $40 million in payroll and counting.
The Prospector was founded in 2014 as a four-screen movie theater. During the COVID pandemic the organization pivoted to selling its gourmet popcorn online to consumers. The snack is carried in more than 400 hotels across the US and has started to make its way into sports venue concessions. With the popcorn brand’s popularity soaring, the organization recently moved from its original 325 square-foot caterer’s kitchen to a 5,000 square-foot popcorn factory in town.
