Trio’s love for business leads to POPPED

After meeting at work at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at Paris Las Vegas, Olivier Morowati, Zelma Hulet and Jean-Francois Chavanel decided to go into business together. They opened a gourmet popcorn business, Popped, in July 2011.

Now, three years later, the trio, who operate a location at 9480 S. Eastern Ave., opened their second location on June 28 in southwest Las Vegas at 3700 S. Hualapai Way.

“Our customers requested that we open a store in Summerlin and we wanted to give the people what they want,” said Morowati, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas graduate.

Popped boasts an average of 20 daily flavoring offerings including Marilyn, kettle corn drizzled with white chocolate and coconut flakes, Pink’adelic, a caramel based popcorn covered in Pop Rocks, Nerds, white chocolate and raspberry, as well as savory flavors like the chicken-wing inspired Buffalo Hot &Ranch and Dilly Pickle, whose tagline is, “keeping it Kosha.”

“Everything has a play on something we’ve tasted,” Morowati said. “We develop that flavor onto our popcorn and we’re always adding new flavors. We want to reinvent the American classic.”

Popped also makes surviving hot Las Vegas summers a little easier by offering frozen popcorn, which has been doused with liquid nitrogen.

Aside from selling its products at its two storefronts, Popped also caters events and sells its products at various eateries across the valley.

After hearing about Popped from a friend, co-owner Marc Longwith of Fremont Street’s Banger Brewing brought the popcorn into his establishment when it opened last December.

“The quality of the corn that they use, as well as the ingredients, are top notch,” he said. “Olivier doesn’t skimp on anything that goes into his products and he understands food and flavors. We both have restaurant backgrounds and have worked for some of the best chefs in the world. You can’t fake that type of experience when it comes to food and creating recipes.”

When Ashley Mastowski, co-owner of the Henderson-based bakery Gimme Some Sugar first sampled Popped, she knew she wanted to sell its products and use the popcorn as a garnish on desserts.

“There were a lot of similar elements we really respected and loved about them that our own business modeled,” she said. “Gourmet popcorn with both classic and unique flavors using quality ingredients; it’s delicious.” According to Morowati, in the near future Popped is looking to franchise its stores.

“People are requesting franchising and we’re looking regionally to California, Utah and Arizona because we want to support our franchises,” he said.

Contact reporter Ann Friedman at 702-380-4588 or afriedman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AnnFriedmanRJ on Twitter.