Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn (A-maize-ing Business)

It seems that gourmet popcorn is the current big thing in the snack food world in Malaysia. With movie popcorn defined and dominated by the Golden Screen Cinemas group, savvy manufacturers are now targeting the out-of-movie munchers, and tempting them with an array of flavours.

Gourmet popcorn kiosks and boutiques are already in KLCC and Sunway Pyramid, and they cost about the same as the other caramel popcorn indulgence, Poppycock. My new discovery however, is still to be had only in Johor.

The Creamy Parmesan was my RM17.80 indulgence.

Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn comes from the Philippines, that land of the sweet-toothed wonders. It is available in seven variants: original caramel, country cheddar, mochachino, white chocolate, creamy parmesan, creamy cinnamon and sugar free original caramel. In some markets there is also green tea, Belgian butter, dark chocolate and white choco parmesan.

I had the opportunity to try all flavours at a kiosk in KSL City Mall in Johor Baru. I have to say there is not a dud in all the range. All of them taste great, with a very specific flavour palette. The only common denominator is the fact that they are all sweet, even if they are cheesy.

The kernels are air popped to perfection, resulting in evenly round nuggets of corn, with nary a single old maid (that's the term for unpopped kernels of corn, thank you GSC) in the tub. The tubs come in large or small sizes. Oddly though, there is a weight variant from flavour to flavour. For instance, the small tub of original caramel is 170 grams, while the same size for country cheddar is 185 grams. There is also a price difference, which I think is a terrible, terrible marketing strategy. It's like Campbell's pricing their cream of chicken differently from their cream of mushroom. It just causes confusion.

Prices range from RM13.80 for a small tub of original caramel to RM19.80 for the green tea, Belgian butter and dark chocolate flavours. Large tubs are priced from RM22.80 for original caramel to RM29.80 for the luxury flavours above. The white choco parmesan is only available in a large 420 gram tub for RM29.90.

Chef Tony's kiosks are limited to Johor Baru (Sutera Mall, Level 3, Jusco Taman Universiti UG Floor, AEON Bukit Indah Level 2) but they offer free delivery within Johor for every five tubs purchased, and free delivery within Malaysia under certain terms.

Uncle Tony's Gourmet Popcorn
Authorized Distributor
Dream Snacks
11 Jalan Seroja 47
Taman Johor Baru
Tel: +013 720 9797