An interview with Dani Paluchniak, Chief Executive Officer, Wabash Valley Farms.

KNSD: Your booth looks much different this year. Why is that?

DP: We changed our configuration from the long rectangle where show attendees have grown accustomed to seeing us into this beautiful square space so that we can show retailers how our products can be mixed and matched into displays that will tell a story for their customers. Those who know us also know that we work very hard to make sure that our products and our packaging both work really hard for retailers, and this year’s booth gives us a better opportunity to demonstrate that. Our job is to help make the retailer’s job easy, so any time we can do that, it’s a good day.

Visit Wabash Valley Farms at booth #S3415.

KNSD: Your Stainless Steel Whirley Pop will be in your booth. That isn’t absolutely new, is it?

DP: No, we introduced the Stainless Steel Whirley Pop late last year, but this has been so successful in the marketplace that we want to bring it to everyone’s notice here in Chicago. Sales for this really took off during the fourth quarter, and we’ve added all new four-color packaging to make it even more of a standout this year. This is a very high-end stainless steel pan and lid with very robust gears, and the $49.99 suggested retail price clearly works well in the marketplace.

KNSD: Do you have some new product introductions as well?

DP: Yes. We’ll be showcasing our Organic Popcorn Popping Kits here. These contain organic white popping corn, organic coconut oil and all-natural sea salt packaged in three sections of the bag inside. You just cut across the bag and dump it all into the popper at once. In the popper, it takes just three minutes, so in three minutes, you have a healthy, delicious snack.

We chose non-GMO, organic white popping corn for this because it’s a more tender popcorn than the traditional yellow varieties. The prepared popcorn has just 43 calories a cup, and there are no trans-fats or preservatives. It’s also peanut free, cholesterol free, additive free, gluten free, and it’s organic and vegan.

We’re also introducing three new seasonings: Dill-icious Pickle, Fiery Hot Thai and Bring Home the Bacon, all of which are fat-free. We’ll be popping corn in our booth throughout the show, and we’ll have the seasonings bar set up so everyone can try all the new flavors. We have lots of other exciting products to show too, so stop on by booth #S3415 and enjoy some Wabash Valley Farms popcorn with us.

For more information, call 877.888.707.