I grew up in Nebraska and I was fed popcorn all my life as part of a generational touchstone. If you squeezed me a little too hard, peanut oil would come out of my eyes!

Now that I’m back in the popcorn swing after a decade away, I was surprised and disappointed to find food giant ConAgra has a stranglehold on free market popcorn buying choices.

ConAgra wrangles three popcorn brands in their bin: Act II and Jolly Time and Orville Redenbacher are all ConAgra products! Gosh, I wonder if the popcorn and ingredients are exactly the same in all three popcorn brands and it’s only the packaging that creates a difference: Buy one brand and you’ve tasted them all! That takes the fun out of popcorn exploration.