De lish us Popcorn01

Waupaca County Post

May 25, 2006

De-lish-us Popcorn to Celebrate Its 75^th Anniversary

By Angie Landsverk, Post Staff Writer

In a Milwaukee neighborhood three-quarters of a century ago, a local company was born.

That company is De-lish-us Popcorn & Distributors Co. Inc., and today, Jim and Jeff Hollnbacher, who are the grandsons of German immigrants, continue to take the company forward as they prepare for its 75^th anniversary in 2007.

In the early 1900s, their grandparents, Benedict and Marie Hollnbacher, immigrated to the U.S. and went directly to Milwaukee, where many Germans were settling.

The couple worked and raised their two sons, Victor and Fred.

It was Marie and her two sons who started a little company called the American Popcorn Co. in 1932.

For several years prior to that, Benedict and Marie had been popping popcorn in their home and delivering large cans of it to taverns, either on bike or foot.

Jim and Jeff’s father, Victor, was studying engineering at Marquette University at the time. During his third year of college, he no longer saw the need to continue because he saw a potential business in popcorn.

Benedict died of a heart attack, and Marie and her sons continued to pop the product from their home and called on taverns and ballparks.

In 1937, the three of them formed an alliance with Geiser’s, a potato chip manufacturing plant. But the following year the alliance fell apart. The Hollnbachers were also making potato chips by then and trademarked the name “De-lish-us”.

Jim and Jeff’s parents, Victor and Clair, were married in 1936, and soon began looking at moving the business to Waupaca. The war had broke out, and they wanted a better source of potatoes.

The couple was familiar with the Waupaca area, as they visited the area to see bands at the Casino and stayed on the Chain O’ Lakes.

In 1943, they bought the building that continues to be the site of De-lish-us today.

They dehydrated potatoes for use by the government during World War II and made potato chips when there was a surplus of dehydrated potatoes. When the war ended, they began full processing in Waupaca and continued the distribution from Milwaukee.

Then, on Nov. 28, 1952, Fred Hollnbacher was killed in a deer hunting accident in Crivitz. Victor bought out his brother’s estate, and several years later the entire business was moved to Waupaca.

Jim began working for his father in 1966 and Jeff joined him in 1972 after serving in the U.S. Army. Both had also worked there when they were youngsters, during the summer or whenever they had days off from school They helped wherever they were needed, doing everything from packing the products to cleaning up and sweeping the driveway.

At that time, their father also owned a motel in Waupaca.

“Dad worked 14 hours a day,” Jeff said. “We came here at 7 in the morning. He always wore a tie. He would tuck the tie in because it got in his way. Sometimes, his collar was open and his cuffs were up He would get done here around 5 p.m. and go home and run the hotel until 10:30 p.m. at night.”

Jim and Jeff’s sister, Diane De Groot, and her husband, Jack, were also involved in the company for a period of time.

The two brothers took over the entire operation of the company in 1983.

The snack food market changed dramatically in 2001 due to low-carbohydrate and low-calorie diets. De-lish-us decided to reinvent itself by going into a higher-quality gourmet market, strictly with popcorn.

And thus Primo Specialty Foods, which is a division of De-lish-us Popcorn & Distributors Co. Inc., was born.

Equipment was purchased to make the various products, which include Kettle Corn, Triple Kettle Mix, Copper Kettle Caramel Corn and Double Cheddar Corn. These are its Wisconsin Gourmet Kettle Snacks.

By hand-batching all of the caramel corn, they are able to control the recipe, and as a result create different recipes and different flavors.

They started Primo Specialty Foods in 2002 and are now referred to as “bakers” because they use baking ingredients.

“We’re diversified now and are a better company for it,” they say. “We sought other avenues to obtain business, and it has been very successful.”

Employees have gone through cross training and are doing more different jobs than they did just five or six years ago.

Within the company, Jim’s expertise is in packaging and manufacturing, while Jeff’s expertise is in financial aspects.

The Wisconsin Gourmet Kettle Snacks line is growing, and the Hollnbachers expect that growth to continue in the year ahead, but will also continue to look at developing different products in that line.

They see gourmet products becoming more popular, and their next venture is coming this fall when they will introduce a gourmet line in the retail gift market. The name “Hollnbacher” will be part of the labeling, which they say would make Grandma Marie proud.

Next year will be the company’s 75^th year in business, and due to the heavy volume of inquiries from those who would like to purchase their products direct, a retail shop opened there in April. It is open fro 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Jim and Jeff believe the future of the company is in the gourmet and snack food market, and they look forward to expanding the company in the future.

From time to time they hear rumors that have to do with their own company and say they have never considered the possibility of selling or moving its operations.

While many family companies like theirs no longer exist, they continue to look at trends in the market and to diversify.

Today, De-lish-us produces about 65 items. The majority of the business’ market is in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but also includes Minnesota and Illinois.

The Hollnbachers see their market as a very regional one and look forward to celebrating the 75^th anniversary in 2007, and the golden anniversary 25 years later.

“I couldn’t think of doing anything else,” Jeff said.