General Info

About Merritt-Pop When John Merritt was growing up in the 1930s, folks popped popcorn on wood stoves in an iron pot with a generous dab of lard and a heavy sprinkle of meat salt. Living in rural Giles County, Tennessee, they usually grew a couple of rows of popcorn in their gardens. John never dreamed that one day he would be dealing with thousands of pounds of popcorn and even cooking it in a microwave oven! Merritt-Pop Popcorn started out in 1984 as an idea and has evolved into a family-run business spanning three generations. It's the popcorn sold at the Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, TN, near Gatlinburg, and is available in major food store chains in the southern United States. Over the years Merritt-Pop has been featured at Neyland Stadium, home of the University of Tennessee Volunteers, and Fulton County Stadium, home of the Atlanta Braves. John worked as a salesman for Nabisco for more than 30 years and was very familiar with product distribution. Popcorn production was another matter and years later he says that he is "still learning." "Grown in the Tennessee Valley, " Merritt-Pop's slogan, is a fact and Merritt added that he buys everything possible locally. The popcorn is the real key to the increasing success of Merritt-Pop. It's a gourmet variety with high expansion capability and superb in tenderness and taste. "It isn't the average kind you get at the grocery store, " Merritt reports. "It doesn't grow well in all kinds of soil." Mike, the youngest son of John and Mable Merritt, owned M&M Farm Supply in Pulaski from 1980 until 2004. In 1995 all the farm store operations were moved to another location and the original building became the headquarters for Merritt-Pop. Mike's two sons Michael and David make the third generation of Merritts to be involved with the company. John, still the driving force of the company in his early 80s, has decided to take a reduced role to allow the transition to the younger generations. On January 1, 2010, Michael and David took over as co-owners. Michael's wife Lacey handles marketing and customer service. "We've grown up learning everything about this business from 'Pappy'" said Michael. "As we look back on the first 25 years of the company, we take great pride in being a family business and look forward to the future. We are dedicated to providing the absolute best popcorn to our customers." Merritt Popcorn Company is a Tennessee corporation and we are an active participant in the Tennessee Department of Agriculture's Pick Tennessee Products program.