The Birth of the Aridity™ Freshness System

The Aridity™ system was born from the passion and vision of myself (Rusty Hopper) and my partner Dolli Richardson. But, hang on! Because our journey had several fascinating detours and surprises along the way.

The story begins in 2018 when we purchased a commercial property as an investment. The building was previously the Broadway Veterinary Clinic, and we planned to become landlords by renting out the property. That plan was short-lived because within a few months we wanted to be the business that occupied that location! But, what business should we operate?

The idea for our business came to us one day as we were discussing what was missing from our hometown. Our town did not have a local popcorn store or a local candy store. We combined those two ideas into the Popcorn Pit Stop™. We dove into some remodeling and soon had a retail area and four specific rooms to use for kitchens. We also acquired the two necessary licenses to produce, package, and sell our food products. 

The store was a success and we were soon growing. As we grew, we purchased an event trailer and a separate warehouse, and even expanded the original building to add a climate-controlled warehouse to protect all of the candies and ingredients needed to produce a fresh and tasty treat. 

Yet, all was not smooth sailing. Along the way, we had obstacles and setbacks. The biggest problem we encountered — and the problem that led to the creation of the Aridity™ Freshness System? Our healthier air-popped popcorn would quickly lose its crunch and soon become less appealing than popcorn fried in oil. We were faced with having to constantly throw out hundreds of dollars of popcorn because it was no longer fresh and crisp.

Thus began a journey of research and development that ended up being harder, longer, and tougher than we anticipated. While it didn’t take long to identify the popcorn freshness culprit — moisture — it did take long to create a working prototype of a system that could be used to conveniently and efficiently remove moisture from our popcorn. We used that prototype for over a year in our gourmet popcorn establishment and then completely updated the design, perfecting it so that the design could be used in any gourmet popcorn facility. After three years of using the new and improved design, we then started traveling the country teaching the Aridity™ system publically. 

As we have been traveling and sharing the Aridity™ Freshness System we have found that there is much more involved than just preparing and maintaining popcorn freshness: we found that many gourmet popcorn stores are struggling. While we don’t have all the answers, we love this industry and enjoy sharing the tips and tricks (i.e. trade secrets) that every gourmet popcorn store needs to be aware of to be successful. 

But business success isn’t as easy as creating a business plan and putting it into action – if it were that easy, everyone would succeed. Our journey has been supported by a vast network of individuals, and we owe a debt of gratitude to every one. It starts with family and friends and extends to friends of friends and even contractors. Yet there are many more, including mentors, local business partners, and even the many owners of gourmet popcorn stores we have enjoyed meeting and getting to know. Everyone has been an integral part of our story, helping weave together a community to support and promote not just this amazing system, but all gourmet popcorn stores around the world!