The Golden Popcorn Blog

Last post

2010-12-12T07:49:00.000-08:00

This week Golden Popcorn will be launching a new website so this is the last post on the old blog. You will still be able to find out what is happening at your favourite popcorn company by going to www.goldenpopcorn.com and clicking on 'Latest News'. See you there!

Continental Market at the City Hall

2010-12-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

There is a superb Continental Market at the City Hall, Belfast. Wonderful aromas, amazing variety of food from all over Europe including paella, Bratwurst, chorizo and much more. Golden Popcorn is on sale too so don't miss it!

It's behind you!

2010-12-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

Golden Popcorn is now on sale at the Grand Opera House, Belfast for the pantomime season. This year's panto is Snow White starring May McFettridge and Lesley Joseph. There's lots of festive fun so make sure you don't miss it!

Good Luck in Uganda, Ben!

2010-12-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

Ben Connolly wrote:

'On 3rd July I will be going (via the organisation Africa Inland Mission) to Kampala to work with street children and young people. To raise the £3000 I need to get me there, I organised a Cinema Fundraiser in Antrim cinema, screening the 1999 classic '10 Things I Hate About You'. Although many couldn't come because of the weather conditions, those who did had a fantastic time. Good film, great cause and tasty Golden Popcorn to watch it with!

I raised £250 altogether and made a dent in my target. A massive thanks to Golden Popcorn for supporting this event!'

The weathermen were right....we did get more snow!

2010-12-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

First snow of the winter!

2010-11-26T02:15:00.000-08:00

Only a light fall of snow but the weathermen say there's much more to come!

Golden Popcorn takes to the High Road!

2010-10-08T01:49:00.000-07:00

Jon Purvey, our Director of Operations, loads the first of many (we hope!) deliveries of our healthy option raspberry flavoured popcorn onto the lorry bound for schools in Scotland.

Happy Birthday Movie House Cinemas

2010-09-30T04:39:00.000-07:00

Glengormley Movie House opened 20 years ago this month. The first film shown was Pretty Woman and on Monday 27th September, 2010 the film was shown again. The invitation only guests enjoyed star treatment on the red carpet. The champagne reception was followed by the movie, Pretty Woman, a film as enjoyable now as it was back then! Golden Popcorn was represented at the event by Lucy McDowell who was accompanied by her brother, Derek. Also pictured are Movie House boss, Michael McAdam (on the left) with local radio and TV broadcaster, Maurice Jay. Congratulations to the Movie House group and here's to the next 20 years!

Raspberry popcorn

2010-09-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Managing Director, Lucy McDowell, presented our new raspberry popcorn at the ASSIST (Association of Service Solutions in Scotland) conference. This popcorn contains no added salt or sugar and is suitable for sale in schools. With Lucy are Alasdair Morris and Peter Wood of MW Foods who represent Golden Popcorn in Scotland. There was considerable interest in the product and we are confident that Local Education Authorities will place orders. The conference was followed by an evening of champagne, good food and dancing in the magnificent Fairmont Hotel in St Andrews. It wasn't all hard work!

Helping out in Uganda!

2010-06-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

Eleven young people will be soon heading off to Kampala in Uganda to work at a school and on a farm with the Rock Ministries (a Coleraine based charity). Work will include teaching English and carrying out practical tasks such as painting classrooms and building desks.

To raise funds to help get them on their way they organised two ’Night at the Cinema’ events. Golden Popcorn were happy to be one of the sponsors for this event. Thirty people came along each evening for a special viewing of the film ‘Up’. Each evening was filled with tears of laughter, a good time was had by all! They have all sent their thanks to Golden Popcorn for contributing to the event.

BRC success

2010-06-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

Our annual audit for BRC Global Standard for Food Safety was completed in April, the results are in and we are delighted to let all our customers know that once again we have been awarded an 'A' grade!

We would like to thank all of you who chose to combine your viewing of the Eurovision Song Contest with a big bag of Golden Popcorn. We saw a considerable uplift in sales!

Tweet popcorn...

2010-05-11T02:26:00.000-07:00

Golden Popcorn are now on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/goldenpopcorn

International Student Volunteers off to Costa Rica

2010-03-26T07:26:00.001-07:00

Four hardy students from Queens University Belfast, will soon be heading off to Costa Rica to carry out some much needed humanitarian work, including organic farming, building initiatives and teaching English to local children. The work is carried out through the International Student Volunteers programme (more info on them and how to join can be found here).

To help get them off to a flying start, they have organised a Night at the Races event, of which Golden Popcorn is proud to be one of the events sponsors. Things get underway at Carrickfergus Golf Club on Friday 30th April, with the proceeds going towards raising those all important funds to get the students over to Costa Rica.

2010 GI Jane event - pics added!

2010-03-25T08:49:00.001-07:00

GI Jane 2010 winner, Lorraine Smyth.

Movie Night helps Tanya Crusade to India

2010-03-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

The Tudor Cinema in Comber was the setting for a Habitat for Humanity Movie Night which took place last week. The purpose of the event was to help raise some cash for Tanya Howe who is due to travel to India this summer to assist in a house building project with the Habitat for Humanity organisation.

Lisa Treacy, one of the event’s organisers told us, "Monday 22nd saw 45 friends pile into the Tudor cinema in Comber for an Indiana Jones adventure. The Last Crusade took us on a wild ride to discover the Holy Grail - along the way we were sustained by copious amounts of delicious Golden Popcorn - yummmmy! £500 was raised by the movie night, undoubtedly people's generosity was encouraged by the amazing kindness of the Golden Popcorn company! Thank-you so much!"

Golden Popcorn would like to wish Tanya and all the other Habitat for Humanity volunteers the best of luck over in India later this year.

More information on Habitat for humanity can be found here

2010 GI Jane event

2010-02-25T02:42:00.000-08:00

Golden Popcorn are pleased to support the Meningitis Research Foundation again this year by donating some popcorn for the upcoming GI Jane event, this Saturday at the Scout Centre, Crawfordsburn Country Park.

This is the second year of the event and 2010’s new recruits will be put through a series of gruelling challenges to help raise money for the charity. This year’s activities include a climbing wall, zip-line, assault course and caving amongst many other things sure to bring out the best in the girls. We wish all the competitors the best of luck in raising as much cash as they can!

For more information on Meningitis Research Foundation, please click here, while you can join the GI Jane Facebook army here.

Fleming Fulton's Wizard of Oz

2010-01-29T04:25:00.000-08:00

The Fleming Fulton School on the Upper Malone Road wasn't in Kansas anymore while its production of The Wizard of Oz ran for two successful nights recently.

We donated some tasty popcorn for the audience to enjoy as the curtains were raised on the shows with the pupils and staff of Fleming Fulton School seeing all their hard work rewarded with a great turnout for both performances. Deirdre Gamble, one of the show's organisers and teachers at the school said "Both night's performances went really well with a great turnout, between 400-500 on each night! The popcorn went down a treat, it was very popular!"

Fleming Fulton School is the largest school for pupils with physical disabilities in Northern Ireland. The school provides education and therapy for 152 pupils between the ages of 3-19. For more information, click here http://www.flemingfulton.org.uk/

Popcorn Party!

2009-12-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Weather forecasts are notoriously hard to predict but we suspect that even Messrs Kettley and Fish would've been hard pushed to foresee a popcorn shower in Belfast!

OK, so this popcorn didn't fall from the sky but it did rain down upon the revellers at the Bambu Beach Club at their recent popcorn party - a new way to enjoy our popcorn!

http://www.bambubeachbelfast.com/

Sainsburys Fun Day Carrickfergus - pictures added

2009-12-11T00:49:00.000-08:00

Popcorn was enjoyed by folks of all ages last Saturday where the Fun Day also featured a local youth choir and a flying visit by the very busy Santa Claus! Golden Popcorn would like to thank the staff of Sainsburys for helping the day go so well.

Sainsburys Fun Day at Carrickfergus

2009-12-02T03:47:00.000-08:00

Sainsburys will be celebrating the opening of their new Carrickfergus store by having a Fun Day this Saturday (5th December). Golden Popcorn will be there with lots of free popcorn - if you're in the area be sure to call by!

Sainsburys Food Festival pictures

2009-11-16T02:14:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in a previous post, Golden Popcorn were invited to take part in the Sainsburys Food Festival and below are a couple of pictures from the event. We made sure that everyone got a sample of our popcorn - even superchef Paul Rankin couldn't resist!

Golden Popcorn Supports Anahilt Scout Group

2009-11-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

Golden Popcorn recently supported a fundraiser for Anahilt Scout Group by providing free popcorn for a private showing of the film Dirty Dancing, organised by Jen Watson and Andrea Harrower, mothers of two of the Group's members. Billed as an evening for girls to come have the "time of their lives", the movie was preceded in the lobby by a drinks reception and then the popcorn was carried through to the theatre – all film-goers were reported to have "hungry eyes". The popcorn was a big hit with everybody, with many there asking where it had come from and where they could get some (Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco if you don't already know!).

To find out more about Jen and Andrea's fundraising activities, just click here http://dynamicduo-mums.blogspot.com

Sainsburys Food Festival

2009-10-22T06:30:00.001-07:00

Good news for Golden Popcorn fans (as long as you’re in the Craigavon area tomorrow and Ballymena next Friday!)

We are taking part in Sainsburys Food Festival, which means that if you fancy some free samples of our popcorn, you should make your way down to the stores on the following dates; Sainsburys Craigavon, Friday 23rd October from 11-5 and Sainsburys Ballymena, Friday 30th October from 11-5.

Golden Popcorn Invitational Basketball Tournament video

2009-10-20T04:30:00.000-07:00

Golden Popcorn now on Youtube!

2009-10-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

We now have a new Youtube channel - we'll be using this to help keep you updated on any events / news / interesting happenings in the world of Golden Popcorn.

You can find our channel here

BRC certification success

2009-10-16T02:01:00.000-07:00

Now that the busy summer period is over and we have a chance to draw breath, we can tell you that we not only passed our BRC Global Food Standard accreditation, but achieved and “A” grade! Every one of the team pulled together and put in the hours and effort to ensure we performed well, but a special mention must go out to our Operations Director, Jon Purvey, for overseeing the project and steering us to success.

The BRC award is a “Certification to a Global Standard, which is achieved through audit by a third party Certification Bodies, reassures retailers and branded manufacturers of the capability and competence of the supplier”. More information on this award can be found here

Belfast Business Top 50 update

2009-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

Below is an article about Golden Popcorn's recent nomination for the Growth Award in the Belfast Business Top 50 awards, held last Thursday. Unfortunately, on the night we lost out to Jurgen Prause from Rehab Studios - can't win 'em all! Congratulations to Jurgen and the rest of Rehab Studios.

Basketball Tournament update

2009-09-25T02:39:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the recent Golden Popcorn Invitational Basketball Tournament have now been posted! More will be added soon, along with some videos taken of the event.Congratulations to Team Sports Movements, who came out on top after a great day of basketball.

Golden Popcorn would like to thank Tom Newell, Dave Cullen and everyone from Full Court Peace for helping out and giving Golden Popcorn the opportunity to be involved.

Credit for these pictures go to Marc Mulholland Scram Productions and Emily Bango of Full Court Peace

Golden Popcorn shortlisted in the Belfast Business Top 50 Awards

2009-09-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

Lucy McDowell, Managing Director of Golden Popcorn has been shortlisted at the Belfast Business Top 50 Awards, to be held tonight at Stormont, Belfast. The event, organised by the Belfast Media Group and which features BT and Grafton Recruitment as major sponsors, pays tribute to the entrepreneurs and business leaders who are role models within their communities, creating wealth and jobs in challenging economic times.

Lucy is shortlisted for the prestigious Growth Award, an award that will go to a Belfast company which has demonstrated exceptional levels of growth in sales over the past 12 months. The remaining finalists for this award are; Anna Burles of Rehab Studio, Conor Daykin of Tasty Foods and Dr. James O’Neill of Corvus Consulting.

http://www.belfastmedia.com/business_article.php?ID=708

Groove in the Grove!

2009-09-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

The third Groove in the Grove Summer Fun Day took place in the Grove Playing Fields at York Road a couple of weeks ago with lots of fun and activities for the kids from the local area to enjoy. Golden Popcorn helped in our own small way by donating some tasty popcorn to keep the energy levels up.

Jennifer Crockard of Lower North Belfast Community Council said, “The event was a great success. It was great to see the community having an opportunity to come together at such an event and have so much fun."

She also was kind enough to provide some pictures of the kids enjoying our popcorn!

The Full Court Peace weekend of Basketball

2009-08-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

On 18th - 20th September 2009 Belfast Tropics and Full Court Peace in association with Golden Popcorn invite everyone to a feast of basketball. On Saturday 19th, teams from Ireland, England and America will fight it out for the ‘Golden Popcorn Invitational Tournament’ crown with finals starting at 3pm at Queen’s University Physical Education Centre in Botanic Gardens. On Sunday Full Court Peace welcomes NBA Coach Tom Newell to Belfast. Tom will host a coaching camp and a coaching clinic to which everyone is welcome. Please contact Dave Cullen on 0780 444 8625 or email him at d.cullen@qub.ac.uk. Dave Cullen says, “We are delighted to be hosting the Golden Popcorn Invitational Tournament this year and thank them for their support. We are also very honoured to have coaching legend Tom Newell visit Belfast. Tom will bring a wealth of basketball knowledge to which entrance is free and open to everyone of all ages.”

Along with Tom Newell, Northern Ireland national treasure Mary Peters will be in attendance as well as Belfast's very own movie star, Geraldine Hughes (Rocky Balboa, Gran Torino).

Full Court Peace is a basketball programme that engages young adults from the Catholic and Protestant communities in Belfast, forming integrated basketball teams in schools that have no formal relationship. Two teams forged by the Full Court Peace initiative will be facing each other on Saturday just before the final. The event will be a great stage for them to display the skills and bonds they've built over the season. Full Court Peace will be expanding to L/Derry in September.

Stay tuned for more news on this event...

http://www.invitationaltournament.org/

Popcorn to the rescue!

2009-08-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

There have been articles in the press recently about the newly discovered benefits of popcorn, and what kind of popcorn manufacturer would we be if we didn't share this information with everyone?!

The discovery came from a study led by Dr. Joe Vinson from the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and it seems to indicate that popcorn contains a health-giving substance called polyphenols.

The "science bit". Polyphenols are usually found with the more obvious healthy foods, such as fruit and vegetables. They are essentially an antioxidant and they combat what are called free radicals (chemicals that can potentially damage cells and tissues within the body). So now, in addition to the fibre found in popcorn, these polyphenols have been recognised as the main health benefit to a regular helping of popcorn.

Dr. Vinson went on to say that "We were surprised by the levels of polyphenols we found in popcorn...In my opinion it's a good health food."

(Source: The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday August 19th 2009 - link found here)

Making the headlines...

2009-08-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

This may not be news to those who are regular readers of the Belfast Telegraph, but for everyone who missed it, here is Golden Popcorn's Managing Director, Lucy McDowell pictured with Invest NI's Maynard Mawhinney. The picture was published in last Tuesday's issue of the Belfast Telegraph to celebrate the recent increase in our business in the Republic of Ireland market.

Saturday night at the movies

2009-07-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

As you may already know, the Féile an Phobail / Festival of the People gets underway next Friday (31st July). For those that are unfamiliar with the event, the festival is a gathering of music, comedy and drama acts, with other exhibitions throughout West Belfast.

One event that we at Golden Popcorn HQ thought was worth mentioning were the drive-in movies at Andersonstown Leisure Centre. Over three nights (starting Saturday 1st August) you have the chance to see Ghost, The Omen or Trainspotting, as well as tasting some of our popcorn from the bags that we donated for one of the nights.

So, if you fancy a good old-fashioned drive-in movie experience complete with popcorn snack, make sure to book your tickets through the festival's website here or by calling 02890 284028.

http://www.feilebelfast.com/

4th July: Pictures from High Street Mall

2009-07-09T08:02:00.001-07:00

America descended upon Portadown last Saturday as the Meningitis Research Foundation's 4th July celebrations rolled into the High Street Mall.

Shoppers were entertained by High School Musical Dancers and even Hannah Montana (aka Alex Collett) turned up to help raise over £150 on the day.

Celebrate the 4th July in Portadown!

2009-07-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

An American themed fun day, complete with cheerleaders and popcorn (supplied by yours truly) will be held on Saturday 4th July in High Street Mall, Portadown. The event, organised by The Meningitis Research Foundation, will run from 12 to 4PM and as well as performances from the All Stars Cheerleading Squad, there will also be lots of music and fun to be had - it's all shaping up to be a big day out.

Diane McConnell of The Meningitis Research Foundation said, “The Charity would like to thank the High Street Mall shoppers for raising a fantastic £3700 so far and would encourage them to come along and enjoy this event. Our thanks also go to Golden Popcorn Ltd and the All Stars Cheerleading Squad for supporting this event. The Foundation relies on voluntary donations to fund research, awareness initiatives and support people affected by these diseases, so come along and show your support!”

More information on meningitis and septicaemia is available on the Foundation’s website http://www.meningitis.org/

Pictures of the event will be posted soon!

Tennis tournament pictures added

2009-06-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

You may have read in an earlier post that we sponsored the Open Senior Tennis Tournament in Larne on 11th June - 14th June 2009. Here now are some pictures of the winners!

On the air

2009-06-24T03:26:00.000-07:00

If you're up bright and early next Monday, you may want to tune in to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster show. Their business correspondent, Eddie O'Gorman approached us with a view to discovering what local companies were doing to combat the recession. On the show you can hear what Lucy McDowell, Golden Popcorn's managing director, thinks is important during these recessionary times.

Catch the interview at: 6.45, 7.45, and a summary at 8.45. More updates to follow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster/

Golden Popcorn on offer in Tesco!

2009-06-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

Golden Popcorn HQ has been gearing up for its Tesco promotion - our picture shows what will be the first of many boxes of your favourite popcorn being taken for delivery to Tesco stores. This is the perfect chance to grab a bag for a bargain!

And the winner is...

2009-06-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

The Help the Aged race night, mentioned in a previous post was a big success and boosted the sponsorship figure towards the team's target of £14,000. Keep checking for another update before the guys head off in October.

The winner of the Golden Popcorn sponsored race was Ballycanal Lord. Considered to have only an outside chance at the time, this plucky dog goes to show you that you just never know your luck...

Tennis Tournament

2009-06-04T08:17:00.001-07:00

Golden Popcorn will be sponsoring the East Antrim Championship, an Open Senior Tennis Tournament held at Larne Bowling & Lawn Tennis Club on 11th June - 14th June 2009.

The club is also home to the Men's Singles League Div 1 winners, so the venue is used to some hotly contested matches! To find out more info on the competition and also the club itself, visit the link below. Pictures to be added soon!

http://www.lbltc.co.uk/tennis.html

Help the Aged China Trek 2009

2009-05-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

On 17th October 2009 Seán Grant, Assistant Manager at Movie House Cityside, and four more participants will be taking part in the Great Wall of China Trek for Help the Aged / Age Concern.

The team have set their target sponsorship figure at £14,000 and to help them get there the guys have organised at night at Drumbo Park race track in Lisburn as their main fundraising event.

We will be doing our part by sponsoring one of the six races on the night, and we're sure that the event will be a success in helping the team meet their goal. Golden Popcorn are proud to be associated with the efforts of Seán and his team and we wish the guys the best of luck in their challenge. We'll also keep you updated on how the trek went at a later date.

http://www.moviehouse.co.uk/
Help the Aged China Trek
http://www.drumbopark.com/

PressPlay Film Festival

2009-05-20T06:40:00.001-07:00

Golden Popcorn are supporting the PressPlay Film Festival which is being held at the Queens Film Theatre in Belfast this Thursday 21st May.

The short films being screened have been produced by the students of the National Diploma in Media Production at Belfast Metropolitan College. The festival is an opportunity for the students to show their pre-production and post-production skills on the big screen and it could well be the place to catch some of the province's best young talent.

http://www.belfastmet.ac.uk/
http://www.queensfilmtheatre.com/

Strandtown's mission to Colombia

2009-05-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

Last year we donated some popcorn for a family film night, held at The Strand cinema in association with Strandtown Baptist Church. The proceeds from this fund-raising event helped raise money for an expedition to Bogota, Colombia which was arranged by Children's Vision. Christine Mahood from the team of 25 hardy Belfast explorers recently got in touch to tell us how they got on.

Amongst many other tasks, the majority of the volunteer's work consisted of assisting in the construction of a new school and helping out at the local nursery. The trip was by all accounts a success and a similar journey is planned for later in the year.

To find out more about Children's Vision, just click here.

New van, new look

2009-05-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

Golden Popcorn have upgraded and updated our fleet of delivery vehicles. In addition to our original Ford Transit, we now also have a Mercedes Sprinter with a Luton Body which includes a tail-lift, giving us more space and flexibilty for deliveries.

As well as all that, the vans were given brand new signage displaying our logo and website. We think they look great, we hope you do too. You may even see one around, loaded with our popcorn!

http://www.goldenpopcorn.com/

The Girls are Aloud to go to the Odyssey

2009-04-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

Girls Aloud will be occupying Belfast's Odyssey Arena for the next three nights as their plans for world pop domination continue. And what better snack to have while at the concert than pop-corn?! You should definitely "jump" down to see "the show" before our "long hot summer" begins... see what we did there?

http://www.odysseyarena.com/346/girls-aloud.html

Are you ready to rumble?

2009-04-24T06:13:00.001-07:00

Belfast is going to be shaking and quaking tonight as some of WWE Raw’s biggest hitters face off at Belfast’s Odyssey arena. WWE tough guy-turned action movie star John Cena will be there - if you’re going then be sure to get ready for battle by chowing down on some of our popcorn at the arena!

http://www.odysseyarena.com/what-s-on.html

Jameson Movieoke campaign

2009-02-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

Popcorn and movies - everyone knows how well these two go together including the very creative folks at Image Zoo and Designco when they chose our popcorn to promote the Jameson Movieoke event.

As our pictures show, our popcorn was used to great effect with an inventive, eye-catching campaign.

http://www.imagezoo.eu/
http://www.rmcdesignco.com/
http://www.jamesonmovieoke.com/

Popcorn has wide appeal at film night

2009-01-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

We recently donated some popcorn for a film night held at Joanmount Methodist Church in Belfast. Event organiser Keeva Watson told us that the 80 strong crowd consisted of a “variety of ages from 3 all way up to pensioners in their 70's” and the feedback on our popcorn was very positive with Keeva also telling us that the folks at the screening thought “the popcorn was fantastic - really beautiful."

Hello and welcome!

2009-01-18T14:08:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1996, Golden Popcorn is Northern Ireland's leading popcorn manufacturer. Our great tasting snacks are now available in large bags for sharing and can be found in all leading supermarkets throughout the province.

This blog is to share our news with you and keep you informed of all Golden Popcorn related developments!

Visit our website at http://www.goldenpopcorn.com/