Sephra Popcorn "scores" several goals at football stadium kiosks

Fife based Sephra Popcorn is celebrating a very successful foray into some of the country’s top football stadiums. 

The brand, which is now the country’s favourite tubbed popcorn, instantly recognisable through its distinctive Cinema style foil lined cardboard tub, is found in a growing network of consumer outlets, including theatres, independent cinemas, supermarkets, and convenience stores. It’s now added several sports and football stadiums to the list.

Its Sweet, and Sweet & Salty, flavour varieties can now be purchased as a snack option in kiosks at Manchester City FC, Dundee FC, Dundee United FC, and closer to home to its Kirkcaldy Head Office, Raith Rovers FC, as well as another Fife based club, Dunfermline Athletic.

Wet popped in the traditional way, and sealed fresh, deliciously seasoned Sephra Popcorn is packed with flavour, offering a long shelf life. Its special kernels produce large, round puffs of popcorn that not only enhance the texture, but also maximises the surface area for seasoning. The result is a popcorn experience where every piece is packed with flavour, delivering a taste that truly stands out.

Scott Stewart, Business Development Executive, from Sephra, is delighted with how introducing the popcorn to football fans, north and south of the border, has gone.

“We have had brilliant feedback from all five football clubs that are currently stocking a mix of our popcorn, in the signature flavours of Sweet, and Sweet & Salty.  We’ve given them our smaller 70g tub, which is more suited for a single person portion, whilst still giving the consumer a generous portion.  The tubs we sell in supermarkets are 140g,” he said.

“Raith Rovers was the first football team to take our Sweet Variety popcorn for the beginning of the season 23/24. We reached out with the initial idea that our tubs would be a good kiosk offering, not really knowing how the thought would be received, and to our delight, they came back to us in agreement that the idea was indeed a good one, increasing fan choice from crisps, pies, and other snacks. They invited us over for a meeting where we discussed the brand and the popcorn in more detail, and they then went ahead with launching it that season, which was an excellent start.”

“Dundee & Dundee United both started taking the popcorn at the start of their 24/25 seasons,” continued Scott. “With Dunfermline Athletic, it was as a result of the Scotland Fan Zones they held at East End Park in June last year for the Euro 2024 games. It was announced that for the Fan Zones, they would be having multiple food vendors, alongside a ‘tuck shop’ for snacks, chocolate, and so on. We knew that our popcorn would be a great addition, especially for kids that would be attending.”

“Luckily, DAFC loved the idea, and took stock of a full pallet (576 tubs) across our three flavours (sweet, sweet & salty, luxury toffee), selling the majority of it through the four events they held that summer. On the back of that success, we approached them about listing it through their kiosks, and it’s now become a very popular choice with fans.”

Scott, and his team, are particularly pleased to have secured leading English Premiership Club, Manchester City.

“We added Manchester City to our Football Club outlets at the end of February ’25, with them taking the Sweet & Salty Variety. It started off in a few kiosks, particularly around the family sections. After the success of the product in those parts of the stadium, they opened it up to be available in every kiosk around the stadium. They were particularly interested in our popcorn tubs as the eating experience is far superior than eating it from a bag.  A contact at the Club said that he wanted the fans to feel like they are watching the greatest show on earth, and that the feeling you get from eating quality popcorn from an attractive foil lined tub certainly buys into that.”

Commenting that he felt:  “this feeling can relate to any football club, the passion football fans have for their team even if they aren’t performing well, doesn’t fade,” Scott added that he: “liked the idea that watching your team with our popcorn tub makes you feel like it’s not just a football game, but in fact a piece of theatre, the greatest show on earth, even if it’s a cold winters days, and your team is not winning!”

Scott finished by saying that Sephra Popcorn’s success in the football stadium market over the past two and a half years: “has been significant, ensuring we will continue to target more clubs. It fits with our strategy to secure the brand across multiple different channels. Lovers of Sephra Popcorn are seeing it in more and more different places. We're delighted that many of these football clubs are looking to introduce point of sale material for us next season. This will ensure even greater visibility for our popcorn.”

Sephra Popcorn, instantly recognisable through its distinctive Cinema style foil lined cardboard tub, has been available since 2017 through major UK supermarkets, plus a number of UK wide convenience store chains. The brand, which offers a variety of different flavours, including the classic cinema Sweet, Salted, Sweet & Salty mix, Luxury Toffee, and a new reduced sugar range with up to 40% less sugar, can also be found across the leisure sector, with holiday parks, theatres, independent cinemas, theme parks, football clubs and many more all stocking its lines.

Sephra Popcorn also produces a family of delicious seasonal popcorns, including Toffee Apple, Gingerbread and Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Further details at www.sephrapopcorn.com.