Popcorn is the king of movie theater food. Although the price in the theater is much more expensive than outside, eating popcorn in the theater is a habit of many people. However, not everyone knows why this food is chosen to be sold by all movie theaters.
The history of popcorn in movie theaters
Corn appeared in the Americas about 8,000 years ago, but it wasn't until the mid-18th century that Central Americans first thought of mixing butter, sugar, and salt with corn kernels to make popcorn.
After that, popcorn quickly became popular in North America. Popcorn boomed in 1885, when inventor Charles Cretor invented the first portable, steam-powered popcorn machine. Since then, any public entertainment venue such as circuses, fairs, and exhibitions can find a few carts selling this dish.
However, at that time, popcorn was not allowed in cinemas. The reason was that films at that time were silent, and short messages appeared in the form of subtitles, so cinema owners did not want their audiences to lose focus by eating popcorn while watching.
Popcorn carts appeared in the early 19th century in America.
But when the era of sound movies appeared, everything changed. Having live sound made the audience not need to pay 100% attention to the screen anymore, but could relax and unwind more. Therefore, the audience started to look for snacks that became indispensable in the cinema.
Then, when the economic downturn made television a luxury item, Americans flocked to find a similar but cheaper form of entertainment: going to the cinema. Then, cinema owners realized that selling snacks was a way to help them get through the crisis. For the same reason, popcorn became the food of choice for movie theaters.
Reasons why popcorn is chosen
- Cheap price
Corn is one of the world 's staple foods and is very cheap. The ingredients for making popcorn are also very cheap, basically corn, butter, sugar, and salt. However, when brought to the cinema, this dish will be sold at a much higher price. Therefore, selling popcorn and soft drinks at many times higher prices than outside is a way for investors to recover their capital.
In addition, movie theaters can increase revenue by selling popcorn with soft drinks. Their secret is that the saltier the popcorn, the more people buy soft drinks. The reason is that when you have spent time at the theater enjoying a movie, spending a little extra money to buy a little snack is not worth it.
- Processed in a snap
There are many audiences who arrive at the theater close to showtime but still want to buy food to bring to their seats to enjoy. Therefore, popcorn is the most effective solution because it is extremely fast to prepare, and at the same time, the taste is so delicious and attractive that we can't stop eating.
- Easy to eat in the dark of the cinema
Even if you can't see, you can still easily put your hand into the popcorn bag to get just the right amount without worrying about dropping it, so you won't dirty your clothes or seat.
- Has a pleasant fragrance, does not cause lingering odors
Popcorn always gives off a very attractive aroma, especially for children, so it is a very suitable food in a closed and crowded space like a movie theater.
Popcorn has become an essential part of movie-going enjoyment.
- Convenient and hygienic
If we talk about foods that meet all of the above criteria, some people also think that watermelon seeds or sunflower seeds are also very suitable. However, after eating those foods, we will leave the seed shells that the cleaners will have to work hard to clean up, so popcorn is still the most convenient.
Ngoc Thanh
Useful
Emotion
Creative
Unique
Source
Comment (0)