TRUCKEE, Calif. – Truckee resident Daniel Feldman grew up snacking on popcorn, more so than the average person. It was a nightly snack for him and his dad. 

“I just eat a lot of popcorn, my dad used to buy it in 50 pound bags or kernels and we’d eat it nightly,” Feldman said. 

Now, he’s taking his lifelong love for popular refreshment and turning it into a side hustle with the launch of his company, Apres Pop. 

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Feldman said his dad is a “purist” when it comes to popcorn, no salt, no butter, just popcorn. Feldman and his wife, on the other hand, like to play with flavors.

“There are so many things I’ve put on popcorn at home that are not white cheddar and are not available at the stores,” Feldman said. “I don’t know if I love the term foodie, but I do love eating a lot of different things and trying international foods. I would just always do different combos in the spice cabinet and it just grew and evolved over time.” 

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Feldman, who is a designer in his day job, became known as the popcorn guy at work, always bringing new flavors in for his coworkers to try. 

Apres Pop has launched with three flavors; Salty and Savory (Olive Oil & Nutritional Yeast), Sichuan Chili and Curry Leaf. 

“I’m really trying to go for new, unique, delicious flavors,” said Feldman. “The first thing this popcorn needs to do is be delicious.” 

A lot of thought went into launching with these three flavors. On the practical side, these flavors keep well in a bag. 

But also, these flavors were the people’s choice. Feldman has a Cottage License, meaning he’s able to make the popcorn in his home kitchen. He placed flyers around his neighbor, asking for people to come taste-test several flavors, to decide which ones he would sell. About 70 of his friends and neighbors came to sample and provide feedback. 

“The community has been so supportive and generous,” said Feldman.

In addition to making his popcorn tasty, Feldman also wants to be intentional about where his ingredients are coming from. 

He gets his kernels less than 100 miles away from Truckee and the Tahoe Food Hub has helped him find local regional ingredient providers.

“My mission is to bring as many ingredients into our foodshed… and eventually measure this in miles that it takes to get from all the ingredients and packaging to the consumer,” said Feldman, adding ideally, everything will be less than 200 miles.

Feldman has dreams of expansion but only within the region, saying he’d really like his products to be found lakewide.

“I really want this to be a product with a sense of place. I don’t have aspirations to be in a nationwide chain or even to ship, I think that’s against the ethos I’m going for,” said Feldman. “I want people who visit our area say, ‘oh you’re visiting Tahoe, pick up some Apres Pop for me, they don’t ship.'”

His popcorn can be purchased at the Truckee Alibi, Tahoe Food Hub, West Shore Market and Glenshire General Store. 

To learn more, http://www.aprespop.com.