Black Founder Spotlight: Meet Toyin, Founders & CEO Of Iya Foods!
Shannon Linsenbigler | November 30
Once per month, we feature a Black entrepreneur on our blog and our social media as part of an ongoing...
Pipcorn was born in 2012, when Jeff Martin was helping his sister, Jen move apartments. With everything packed up except a bag of tiny heirloom popcorn kernels that Jen found in the Chicago health food store where she worked, they popped batch after batch of the most delicious popcorn they’d ever had! They liked this one so much, they tracked down the Indiana farmer who grew it from his family’s heirloom seed stock. Together with Jeff’s wife, Teresa, they created a new company, Pipsnacks™.
We found the most amazing heirloom popcorn kernels around. They tasted better than any popcorn we'd ever had: they were crunchy, light and tasted like real corn! So we decided to pop 'em and name them Pip! They continue to exceed our greatest expectations!
April 2012
Pipcorn launched at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, NY. We hand-stamped bags and popped in our mom's spaghetti pot!
November 2012
After finding us at an outdoor market, Pipcorn was picked as one of Oprah's Favorite Things! (We were then picked 3 more times!)
May 2013
We got into our first retailers, including our home region of Whole Foods Market! From there we sampled our butts off in store and at local events!
November 2014
We pitched to the sharks on ABC's Shark Tank and got a deal with Barbara Corcoran!
January 2016
Pipcorn was rolled out nationally to all Whole Foods Markets!
January 2017
Launched three new flavors and went to Death Valley to pop popcorn using the SUN!
December 2018
We decided our little brown bags needed a little more UMPF. So we kept the kraft and added a little, ok a lot of color!
August 2019
We started this snack journey on a mission to recreate the snacks we love, so 7 years later we decided our heirloom popcorn needed some company! We introduced Heirloom Cheese Balls and Heirloom Corn Dippers!
April 2020
We are upcycling!
We had a lot of finely ground corn flour leftover from making cheese balls, and since we couldn't use it any of our other snacks, we decided to make a new one! We experimented in the kitchen and upcycled it into delicious bite-sized Heirloom Crackers!
June 2020
We're international!
Pipcorn hit shelves in Loblaws and Whole Foods Market stores in Canada!
September 2020
Are they curls? Are they puffs? No, they're Heirloom Crunchies! They’re sort of like mini cheese curls, but crunchier (naturally), with an irresistible texture thanks to our signature heirloom corn.
November 2020
More cheese, please!
You asked, and we listened! We added White Cheddar to our line of Cheese Balls!
February 2021
Back in the tank!
Shark Tank featured us in an update segment with Barbara Corcoran about all the ways we kept hustling during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Head to our social media to see all the latest updates on Pipcorn! We are grateful to our team, our customers, our buyers, our family and friends, and everyone who helped us get here!
Shannon Linsenbigler | November 30
Once per month, we feature a Black entrepreneur on our blog and our social media as part of an ongoing...
Shannon Linsenbigler | October 25
Once per month, we feature a Black entrepreneur on our blog and our social media as part of an ongoing...
Shannon Linsenbigler | September 22
Once per month, we feature a Black entrepreneur on our blog and our social media as part of an ongoing...
Shannon Linsenbigler | August 12
Once per month, we feature a Black entrepreneur on our blog and our social media as part of an ongoing...
We are a family business who started with a kernel of an idea: We called it Pip, and it continues to exceed our greatest expectations.