All Episodes

July 20, 2024 15 mins

What makes Steven Maier with Maier's Gourmet Popcorn a good neighbor?

Ever wondered how a simple college side hustle can blossom into a thriving gourmet popcorn business? Join us as we sit down with Steven Maier of Maier  Gourmet Popcorn to uncover the secrets behind his delicious success story. From the bustling farmer's markets to a popular brick-and-mortar store in Jensen Beach, Steven shares his incredible journey and the mouth-watering array of flavors that keeps his customers coming back for more. Discover the meticulous process behind crafting high-quality gourmet popcorn and learn some surprising truths about its health benefits along the way.

But it’s not all smooth sailing in the world of snacks. Steven opens up about the hurdles he faced, including a significant rebranding challenge when a larger competitor forced them to change their original name, Doc's Gourmet Popcorn. Through resilience and a steadfast commitment to quality, Steven has navigated these obstacles with grace. Plus, you’ll hear about his personal passions for golf and motorsports, and how these hobbies mirror the ups and downs of running a successful business. Tune in to find out how you can get your hands on some of Maier Gourmet Popcorn’s delectable offerings and support a business built on dedication and flavor.

To learn more about Maier's Gourmet Popcorn go to:
https://www.maierspopcorn.com/

Maier's Gourmet Popcorn
(772) 812-1704

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, GarfieldBowen.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you looking for somepopcorn?
Well, some may be closer thanyou think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Stephen Mayer, with MayerGourmet Popcorn.
Stephen, how are you doingtoday?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Doing good.
Garfield, Thank you for havingme on.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Listen, we're excited to learn all about you and your
business.
Tell us about your company.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
So we specialize in gourmet popcorn, obviously as
the name of the company presentsitself.
We do cheeses, differentcaramels, caramel with nuts,
kettle butter, all that goodstuff we ship.
We're over in Jensen Beach,we're local.
We do some of the farmer'smarkets around town in Fort

(01:02):
Pearson-Stewart.
We also have a food truck whichwe go to events with.
So you can find us pretty muchanywhere in-store, online around
town, and we have somewholesale accounts as well with
some local businesses.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
So I guess all you need is the movie.
Right, you got the popcorn.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah, exactly.
You just need the movie or afootball game or whatever you're
looking to relax with, andwe'll provide the snacks.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
So, Stephen, how did you get into this business?

Speaker 3 (01:31):
So we'll go back almost nine, 10 years.
I just graduated high school,was going into college and was
basically looking for a littleside hustle on the weekends to
kind of make some little pocketmoney while I was in school.
And kettle corn wasn't a bigthing down here, as it is more

(01:53):
so in the mid-Atlantic regions,northeast mid-Ohio, and that's
where it started.
It was just a kettle and I hada lemonade cart and my first gig
was at the Stuart Market heredowntown on the weekends and it
was just once a week and that'swhere we got our start.
I would come home on theweekends.
I graduated from UCF with adegree in finance.

(02:15):
I would come home on theweekends, make a little money
and go back up, and so as I gotcloser to graduation it was
starting to gain some steam andpeople really loved the product
and I thought you know, why notgive it a shot?
Roll with it?
Uh, be my own boss.
And so after graduation, savedup some money during that time,

(02:41):
bought a trailer, started doingbigger events.
Um bought more equipment to doother flavors in addition to the
kettle.
Trailer started doing biggerevents.
Um bought more equipment to doother flavors in addition to the
kettle.
We started doing some caramelcorn, um was doing basically a
circuit, we were doing themartin county fair, we were
going as far north as orlandofor events, the gulf coast down
south, and then the next logicalstep was we need a brick and

(03:04):
mortar to do wholesale internetsales.
You can't do it out of a foodtruck.
So we picked a great time toopen a store, right during COVID
in 2020.
And so that kind of put thingson hold for about six to eight
months and we wanted to openright at the beginning of that
year, but we didn't open thestore until October of 2020.

(03:25):
To open right at the beginningthat year, but we didn't open
the store until october of 2020.
And so once that opened, we hada commissary to do proper food
production and then word kind ofslowly got out.
We started having retail hours,um, and then we got the online
store going and then slowly wegot more wholesale accounts and
it's been on the up and up eversince.

(03:47):
So I wouldn't say it's takenoff as fast as I would like, but
it's every year as I producethe last.
So we're heading in the rightdirection excellent.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
So, steven, what are some myths and misconceptions is
is popcorn healthy?

Speaker 3 (04:04):
um, I'll be lying to you if I said it was, but some
of them, like cheese and butter,you can get away with.
They're low calorie, low sugar.
I mean, obviously there's somecarbs in there, but it's a snack
food.
I'll be honest with you.
You got to have moderation andeverything.
Um, we're not in the business.

(04:25):
I'm on the business to sell youon a, uh, healthy snack.
This is something to indulge in, something to um, nice little
treat for you, and that's what Ithink we pride ourselves on, is
it's not what you're going toget at supermarket, it's not
going to be your microwavepopcorn.
Um, a lot of time and effortgoes into this.

(04:46):
I think that's the one thingthat people think like oh, it's
popcorn, I can you make it inunder a minute?
Right?
I'm like no, um, most of ourproducts outside of the kettle
take upwards of 45 minutes to anhour.
The caramel is even close totwo hours per batch.
Um, and so that would probablybe the one misconception.
Um, because, and once I tellpeople that the kind of their

(05:08):
eyes light up and I'm like, yeah, there's more that goes into it
.
I mean, it's not rocket scienceby any means, but, um, there is
time and effort and we put alot of pride into our product so
your food is dangerous.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
then once you eat it, you got to come back for more.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
You got to be hooked.
Yeah, a lot of our customersthey are probably our top
sellers are kettle corn and theycall it kettle crack.
It's very addictive in a goodway.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
So, stephen, when you're not busy running your
business, what do you like to dofor fun?

Speaker 3 (05:48):
so don't get much time off, which a lot of other
small business owners can agreewith me on that.
But when I am able to sneakaway, um, I'm an avid golfer.
I'm not good, but um, that's atotally different story.
But I, uh, I love to get outthere and um, because it's one
of those sports that it's all alot of mental and you can have

(06:13):
one great shot and the next yearover in the bushes, and so I
think that relates honestly tobusiness too.
I mean, you're going to have alot of obstacles, you're going
to have a lot of ups and downs,just like you have a lot of ups
and downs during a round, andit's how you compartmentalize
these things and go short-termmemory, go all right.
We had this issue, we'llovercome it, um, and it's on to

(06:36):
the next shot or it's on to thenext thing during the day when
you're at the office.
So I I love golf, um, I lovewatching it, love playing it, um
, and probably the other uh,wouldn't say hobby.
But I grew up in motorsports,grew up racing, grew up working

(06:56):
for a professional sports carteam.
That was my other job incollege and I was on the pit
crew, got to travel the countrydoing that.
So on the weekends I waswatching Formula One, imsa
sports Car Series, indycarpretty much anything with four
wheels.
I'm watching it, so that's myother big interest as well.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
I must tell you I never saw golf put that way.
I think I need to get out thereand probably start playing some
golf.
It sounds pretty interesting.
Let's change gears a little bit.
Life often does this curveballs.
Let's talk about one hardship,one life challenge, something
that you've been through and youcan look back today and say

(07:41):
you're better and strongerbecause of it.
What comes to mind?

Speaker 3 (07:45):
um, so I mean, ever since the start of this business
, there's been a lot ofobstacles, but there's
definitely one that sticks outin particular.
The original name of thecompany was Doc's Gourmet
Popcorn, so to give you a littlebackstory on that name.
my dad was a chiropractor for 32years and he was the one that

(08:10):
helped me get a little seedmoney to get this off the ground
, so I thought I'd reward him bygiving him naming rights to the
company.
So that was the original nameand about a year a little over a
year ago, around March of lastyear, I got an email and I

(08:32):
thought it was a scam, becauseI've gotten emails like this
before, and thought it was asolicitation and, as I'm reading
into it and going a little morein depth had a little bit of
merit to it, and apparentlythere is a company that's owned
by Dippin' Dots, a little frozenice cream company.
It's a subsidiary known as DocPopcorn.

(08:54):
Our logos are completelydifferent, everything's pretty
different, but they are owned bya big conglomerate, and they
got a lot more lawyers in deeperpockets than I do, so they said
that it was too similar totheir trademark and so we had to
change the name and, as a smallbusiness, that's devastating,

(09:18):
especially when you're in yourinfancy and you're just trying
to get that brand recognitionout there.
It's all your customers andonline and so you basically got
to start from scratch and wedidn't have a lot of time to
change the name, so we just wentwith the surname because it was
easiest and, uh, so we switchedand then had to scrap

(09:41):
everything on the internet allof our logos, all of our bags,
the front of the store, um,start reworking all the SEO
online, and so I think timeheals all.
I mean, you just gotta kind ofkeep pushing away and plugging
away, and I think we have donethat.

(10:02):
Luckily, we were able to keepthe logo very similar Since,
like I said, the logos werecompletely different.
There was just the name theywere worried about cause we just
kept popping up right next toeach other on search engines.
So I think we've overcome that.
Um, we still have theoccasional customer, mostly
snowbirds that haven't been downin six to eight months.

(10:24):
They go are you, are you dogslike?
Yes, same company, sameownership, same product, same
great product, just a differentname.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
A lot of people don't know that you have absolute
right to your name.
So a lot of time it's best touse your name when you're naming
it if you don't want to gothrough the whole search process
of registering a trademark, ofregistering a trademark.
So, stephen, I'm going to putyou on the spot a little bit.

(10:57):
Okay, I know you have a lot tosay about Mayor Gourmet Popcorn,
but I want you to narrow itdown to one thing, one thing
that you want our listeners toremember about Mayor Gourmet
Popcorn.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
I'd say, I mean, there's a lot out there and we
do have a lot of customers thatcome up and ask, like, what
makes a difference?
And I'd say, like I told youearlier, we put a lot of pride
into our product and we could, Icould cut corners and I can use
a kernel that's a third of theprice that a lot of other people

(11:33):
do and what you'll get at themovie theater.
But we try to stay away fromany artificial dyes and
artificial sweeteners, anythinglike that, and use real
ingredients in our product, andjust that is the difference I
think will set us over the topand I encourage all our

(11:55):
customers that they come and saywell, what about this?
probably I'm like try both, and99% of time, after someone's had
someone else's product orsomething from the store, they
come back and they say, wow,like that's the best popcorn
I've ever had, and I put mymoney behind.
I offer 100% money backguarantee if people don't like

(12:15):
it.
So I think just the time, theeffort, the quality of the
ingredients that goes into ourproduct is what sets us apart.
That's the one thing that Iwant our listeners to get across
to is that if anything, I thinkour listeners are pretty much
sold.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
They just have one question on their mind, and it's
how?
How can I get more informationon Mayer Gourmet popcorn?

Speaker 3 (12:39):
So you can.
First and foremost, we'd loveto come by the store, swing by
and see us.
We're over in Jensen Beach, offDixie Highway, right across the
street from the Jensen Beachbowling alley.
We're open Tuesday throughSaturday, 11 to 6 during the
week, 11 to 7 Friday andSaturday.
If you can't make it to thestore, you can go to our website

(13:01):
.
It's mayorspopcorncom, and youcan also follow us on Facebook
at Mayor's Gourmet Popcorn.
You can follow us on Instagramat Mayor's Popcorn.
We're posting on there newflavors.
We're posting on there certainevents we'll be at with our
trailer and currently right now,every Saturday we do the

(13:25):
downtown Fort Pierce FarmersMarket, right there by the
marina.
Every Sunday we do the downtownStewart Market at Flagler Park
and for the summer months ourtrailer on Saturdays and Sundays
will be at Sam's Club, in frontof Sam's Club on US1 from about
11 to 5, weather pending,because mother nature is very

(13:48):
inconsistent this time of year.
But those are the ways you canreach us.
And also I'd like to give ashout out to some of our
wholesale partners.
We are at a couple breweries inthe area Isla Mirada brewery in
the area Isla Mirada Brewery inFort Pierce.
You can get our popcorn PopLife Brewery in St Lucie, west
Fraser Creek Brewery right herein Stewart and then Mad

(14:13):
Hatcher's Axe Throwing also inStewart and also Palm City Farms
off Citrus Great little producestand.
They have a lot of locallysourced products, not just
ourselves, but a lot ofFlorida-based products too.
So if you're looking to shoplocal, that's a great spot to go
to.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
For those that just like to punch the numbers on the
phone, is there a number thatyou'd like to share?

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yes, I probably should have included that to
begin with.
Our phone number is772-812-1704.
And if you have any questions,you can email us at info at
mayorspopcorncom, and I'll besure to give you a prompt
response.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Listen, stephen.
We really appreciate having youon the show.
We wish you and your businessthe very best moving forward.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
All right, thank you very much, garfield.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
It was a pleasure to have me on.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Port St
Lucie.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpportsaintluciecom.
That's gnpportsaintluciecom, orcall 772-362-3840.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.