Features

Like many successful companies, Angie’s Kettle Corn began small as a husband and wife looking for something to do as a family. Over a ten year period, Dan and Angie Bastian’s side business blossomed into a multi-million dollar company that offers pure and natural kettle corn in all 50 states. Angie’s artisan treats are gluten free, allergy free and delicious with a perfect balance of sweet and salty.

Dan was born and raised in Minnesota while Angie grew up in Indiana, Michigan and Florida. They were married on July 23, 1994 and lived in New Mexico, then Florida, where they started a family. In 2001, the Bastians moved to Mankato, Minnesota, where Dan pursued his teaching career and Angie worked as a nurse practitioner. “We were looking to do something together, whatever that business was,” Dan says. After looking online for weeks, trying to find a side business that fit their busy schedules, they came upon a kettle corn website. “We thought this is something we can do.” They bought some equipment and decided to give it a try.

They set up their kettle corn booth at fairs, neighborhood parties and in front of stores in the Mankato area. “Wherever people would let us pop, we’d sell,” Angie says. The booth was a family activity – they brought their children Aunikah, 15, and Tripp, 13, with them to events. “When they were little, the kids wanted to work too and they’d help hand out the bags of popcorn and learn how to take the money,” Angie remembers.

When Dan and Angie started the business, they went to the popcorn aisle at a local grocery store seeking inspiration for a name. “We looked at the shelf and all the popcorn brands had male names: Orville Redenbacher, Cracker Jack. I was like, where are the women?” Angie says. Thus, Angie’s Kettle Corn had a name.

In the summer of 2002, the Bastians were offered the opportunity to pop at the Minnesota Vikings training camp in Mankato. “We thought, if we’re going to do this, how do we get noticed?” Angie says. After receiving permission, they gave 120 bags to the Vikings players and coaches. “They really liked it,” Dan says. The next day, the team’s sales and marketing team offered them a contract.

Dan and Angie’s bold move elevated their side business into the next level. With the contract, Angie’s Kettle Corn became the official kettle corn of the Minnesota Vikings and they began serving their popcorn outside the Metrodome at all the Vikings games. “We’d set up our operation for three hours before the game and people would buy it and take it into the dome. From there it just kind of grew and grew,” Dan says.

Eventually, customers requested a source for the kettle corn off season. They decided to take the next step and in 2004 rented a kitchen to produce their product in larger quantities. They also had their kettle corn inspected and licensed. That year they began selling their artisan treat in a few local stores including the St. Peter Food Co-op and Ray’s Market.

Looking to expand their business, Dan and Angie scheduled a meeting with the Lunds and Byerly’s grocery stores in the Twin Cities. “After some coaching and getting the food part of it in place – like the label, nutritional panel and UPC symbol – they said okay,” Dan says. “In 2004, we started selling Angie’s Kettle Corn in three of their stores.” In the beginning, the couple did all the popping, bagging and delivering in order to get their product on the shelves. “We were doing everything by hand and at the time, we could do 60 bags per hour – maximum,” Angie says.

“At this point we didn’t know where this was going,” Dan says. “That’s why we kept moving forward.” Since neither Dan nor Angie had a background in the food business, looking back now they see how big of a hurdle they were trying to overcome. “We didn’t know what we didn’t know. We just kept doing it,” Angie says. “Maybe if we were in the food business before we started, we never would have done it. Everyone would have said, you can’t bring a new product to market and not know anything about it.” Although the journey was an uphill climb, Dan and Angie took on each new challenge as it came, moving closer and closer to their goal of expanding Angie’s Kettle Corn.

Dan and Angie’s success came gradually as they began selling in more stores and adding new equipment. “More and more stores became aware of us and we started growing and growing,” Dan says. By 2005 they moved into a new building and in 2007 they moved again to their current location in North Mankato. At their current site, they have 125 employees and two machines that run 20 hours a day.  Now both of the machines can produce 60 bags per minute – a far cry from the early days with one kettle and a big dream.

As their business has grown, Dan and Angie have never lost sight of the importance of family and have found a way to balance their home life with work. “We’re unified in working toward a goal for our family and the business,” Angie explains. “It takes work to keep a relationship healthy and strong and we do the work to do that.” While Angie credits much of their success at home to the flexibility in their roles, at work their roles are more defined. Although they both oversee the entire operation, Dan focuses primarily on producing the product, the production team and quality while most of Angie’s work begins with the finished product in areas such as marketing and brand identity.

As they look to the future, Dan and Angie see a tremendous opportunity ahead of them. “We’re in about 50 states right now in some form but we’re not in all grocery stores,” Angie says. “And that’s our goal: to get into more grocery stores and more natural food markets.” They also hope to develop new flavors. In 2010, Angie’s Kettle Corn expanded into other varieties including light and caramel. “What I do, and want to do some more of, is work on flavor combinations in the kitchen to figure out what I like and what tastes good.” They have a small research and development team who are trained in food science also working on new varieties.

The Bastians hope their company is seen as more than great kettle corn. “Personally, I am very proud that the business employs people here in the community. I’m also proud that we’ve promoted from within,” Angie says. “When we talked about starting a business, I remember saying, wouldn’t it be so cool if we could support kids in education? What better than to give them a job? Some of our first employees were Minnesota State University Mankato students – two of the graduates are now running divisions here for us.”

“For the longest time I struggled with transitioning from being a teacher to running this business because in teaching you know you’re making an impact on kids,” Dan says. “I think when you start a business like popcorn; you wonder what impact can you make? When we started adding people on and discovering that people are growing here, it allowed me to understand there is an impact being made here: we’re giving people an opportunity to work and grow and discover their talents and learn what they’re good at.”

In January 2011, Dan and Angie appeared on The Martha Stewart Show. The appearance resulted in boosted sales and invaluable feedback – especially because the kettle corn is gluten free. Angie says, “Our publicist received a call from a lady in Staten Island who said, ‘I feel like crying because it’s something my child can eat that doesn’t separate her from her friends. She can bring a snack to school and it’s one everyone wants to eat.’ We were like, wow, even popcorn can make a difference in people’s lives. That was what mattered to us – we wanted to do something meaningful in people’s lives when it came down to the product.”

The last ten years have been a learning experience for the Bastians. “It’s funny. We thought we wanted to go into business so we’d have more time for ourselves but the opposite is true for a long time. You put in a lot more hours,” Angie says. When thinking of starting a business, they recommend asking the question: How committed are you? Dan explains, “I don’t think anyone understands the commitment you have to make. You might say I’m willing to work 15 hour days – in reality it’s 24 hours a day, every day of the year. It’s not fun or easy to do that.”

“We couldn’t have done it alone,” Angie says. “You need a network of people who know things you don’t know. And you need to surround yourself with people you enjoy being with.” Although launching a business takes time and dedication, the last thing Dan and Angie want to do is discourage someone who has the energy and desire to do something. “We didn’t know what we were getting into and we’ve been fortunate to find a way to do it,” Dan says. “What we’ve found is if you really want something: anything is attainable.”

At Angie’s Kettle Corn, Dan and Angie’s mission is to make simple, healthy food that people like and delight in. “But, more than making a great product, we want to make an impact on people,” Dan says. As they look to the future, they are committed both to their family and their business. “We are excited for growth and expansion: to see our full potential.”