Poppin’ for a purpose: Saint John business sells gourmet popcorn and helps the hungry

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -

A newly opened gourmet popcorn shop in the city of Saint John is serving up classic movie theatre snacks from its brightly coloured west side space, while setting aside a portion of its profits each month to help the hungry.

‘Poppn’, located on Catherwood Street, officially opened its doors for business on Saturday.

Customers at the shop can choose their own popcorn seasonings and candy, along with either cotton candy or a drink.

Owner Mark Curran says that the response from the community has been incredible with more than 300 customers already, after only being open for a few days.

“We had people lined out the door Saturday, we had people lined out the door on Sunday,” says Curran, “The response on Facebook, almost 17,000 people have seen our posts and seen our page, it’s insane.”

The business plans to give back to the community by giving five percent of their gross margin to a local food bank each month. It’s an idea that came to Curran after getting sick last year.

“I wasn’t able to eat for a while, and for the first time in my life I really experienced hunger,” says Curran. “So after I got better, when I was driving by the food bank, my perspective changed on what those people go through.”

The first to be chosen is the North End Food Bank – part of their sales from Oct. 16 to Nov. 30 will go to that facility.

“I want this to be a fundraising machine that a lot of people get excited about on family movie night, or coming after a hockey game,” says Curran.

“You know your dollars are going to someone in need and can really help fight food insecurity.”

Serving up snacks, and helping the hungry, one bag of popcorn at a time.