Chicago Company Has Mouths Watering in Hong Kong

As a foodie paradise, Hong Kong’s gastronomy scene is a tough nut to crack. But Garrett Brands, which has existed in one form or another since the 1930s, did it not with Michelin stars but corn—gourmet popcorn. 

Garrett Brands can be found at O’Hare Airport in Chicago, where transit passengers line up, attracted by the Pavlovian effect of the popcorn scent wafting through the terminal. Residents of Chicago are served by 13 shops in the metro area. 

In 1946, the Garrett family, who knew a thing or two about popping popcorn, held a competition among family members. The family recipe that won became the driving force behind the company. The third–generation family operation sold the company to Garrett Brands in 2005. 

Within a couple of years, the first shop outside Chicago was opened in New York City. In 2008, a shop opened in the Dubai Mall, right next to the popular aquarium. It was an instant hit and soon, sales were exceeding expectations. Once successful in the Middle East, new shops opened in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore. 

 “Many western brands are initially popular, and often fade due to local competition or missteps,” said senior vice president of business development Mark Staublin. Fading is not part of the business plan, and Garrett’s team determined early on that quality and consistency had to be maintained at all costs. 

“Popcorn doesn’t have a long shelf life, we have a full kitchen in each location. Nothing is held over until the next day. All the raw materials are sourced from the United States, which is part of the appeal to fans,” Staublin said. 

Another part of the appeal is the scent of popping corn and enrobing the kernels with the famous CaramelCrisp recipe. Shops are positioned in a way that maximizes the wafting potential. Waft it, and they will come. 

The olfactory pull depends on good ingredients and secret recipes. Maintaining quality is the hard part. “Whichever shop you visit, the product is designed to be the same, and the only way you can do that is to have the same quality ingredients and the same cooking process.” For instance, we make our caramel from scratch, and it must be prepared at the right temperature. 

The recipes are intellectual property, and Garrett keeps a close eye on evidence of purloined popcorn in local markets. So far, so good. 

Hong Kong has traditionally been a proving ground and launch pad for selling to mainland China. Today is no different. Garrett has dipped a toe in the China market, making some sales on the B2C marketplace T-Mall. The mainland poses different quality concerns, and the company wants to solve them prior to expanding further. In general, they have pressed pause until Covid is sorted out and supply chains are secured. 

Like most retail today, the Garrett retail shops in Asia have been affected by the pandemic. The shop at the Hong Kong International Airport was temporarily closed when most flights were cancelled in 2020, continuing this year. A percentage of the business comes from tourists. At the beginning of the pandemic, Asia initially did better at controlling the virus; however, in 2021 the rollouts of the vaccines have impacted the economic recovery for retail. 

What’s cooking elsewhere 

Growing sales is important, but there are other benefits to being in global markets. You learn things in each market that can benefit the business globally. 

The first lesson was that Asia had little or no access to gourmet popcorn. It did have microwave popcorn. Second, dairy is not as prevalent in Asia as in the West. 

Third, experimentation–generated recipes were augmented with local flavors. One recipe developed in Japan uses matcha, a powdered green tea added to a base recipe of caramel. Another uses real strawberry and both are now offered in other shops throughout the region and now in the United States. 

More cooks in the kitchen 

This growth was not possible without local help in each international market. In Hong Kong, it was the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, a division of the Hong Kong government that has offices in the United States and other countries and provides free services. “We reached out to them for assistance and insights; making our global operations smarter” said Staublin. 

And by many measures, it worked. The company relied on their assistance to get local business licenses reviewed and approved, which is not a straightforward process. They were also helpful in learning about the market. 

The US Commercial Service of the Department of Commerce, which has over 100 Export Assistance Centers in the United States, in addition to an office in Hong Kong, was also helpful in understanding Hong Kong, Japan, and other markets. There is a modest charge for some higher–end services, such as finding local partners. Services and expertise of both organizations are complementary, and in Chicago, the teams know each other, making coordination even more effective. 

The elephant in the popcorn shop is the state of US-China relations. “A lot of the tension involves supply chain issues in other parts of China, where we aren’t involved. The US government recently issued an advisory, warning US businesses in Hong Kong of serious risks posed by new laws imposed from Beijing, but Garrett seems unphased. 

“We have confidence in the Hong Kong market and plan on being there for the long-term.”