About Us
The Story
Hopi Popi grew out of the lessons of two English teachers in 1992. Andrew Glueck (from the U.S.A.) and Jana Novakova (from the Czech Republic) made popcorn in their English lessons about American foods and customs. The two teachers researched the history of popcorn, and taught their Czech students that Native American Indians have enjoyed popcorn for 5,000 years. (Link: Click on Glueck and Gazarova's original lesson plan).The two were inspired by the tribe, Hopi, for whom corn is sacred. The children at school connected the word Hopi with Popi, and a new word was born. The word Hopi in the Czech language means "jump," which is exactly what popcorn does when you prepare it.
Now Hopi Popi is a synonym for microwave popcorn in the Czech Republic. Glueck and Gazarova traveled the Czech Republic in an old Skoda car showing people how to make popcorn at home in a pot. They started importing popcorn from The United States, and soon imported microwave popcorn. Czechs had bought a lot of microwave ovens in the 1990's, and microwave popcorn soon became a fast seller. The only problem was that Czechs were interested in new flavors of microwave popcorn, but American companies only produced salted and butter flavors. Glueck and Gazarova decided to hire a food development team, and became the first manufacturer of microwave popcorn in Eastern Europe.
Now Hopi Popi is an ISO-certified company employing 20 people in Olomouc, the Czech Republic, and exports to several Eastern and Western European countries. The Hopi Popi brand is viewed by Czechs to be superior to other brands (click on graph):