Passing by Lapierre Farm on Route 116 in Shelburne during late summer, a driver might spy two acres of corn and assume it’s feed for cows, or maybe sweet corn for the Lapierres’ roadside farmstand.
Both guesses would be wrong.
Since 2023, Andy Lapierre, 42, and his family have raised a pretty unusual Vermont crop: popcorn. They started selling their first 3,500-pound harvest a year ago through half a dozen local stores for about $11 a pound. Packaged in a neat kraft paper bag with an oval window revealing white or yellow kernels, Poppin’ Charlie’s name nods to the precocious idea “man” behind the product.
Lapierre grew up on the 330-acre former dairy farm his family has owned for more than a century. One fall day in 2022, he recounted, his then-four-year-old son, Charlie, suggested, “We should try growing popcorn.” When he asked Charlie how much of his favorite snack they should grow, his son replied with conviction, “The whole field.”
It’s been well over two decades since the Lapierres have made a year-round living from the farm, but Andy and his father, Claude, still raise hay that sells across New England and New York. They also grow sweet corn and about six acres of pumpkins, mostly jack-o’-lanterns, which the family sells from their seasonal farmstand and through Claussen’s Florist, Greenhouse & Perennial Farm in Colchester. Andy’s wife, Ali, co-owns that business with her father.
Ali was up for the popcorn experiment though not quite as convinced as Charlie of the need to grow two acres of the novel crop. Her husband said he decided to go for it on the grounds that “the bigger the trial, the more likely the success.” He acknowledged that the driver was not so much potential income but to “support our son’s passion for popcorn and his desire to grow his own.”
Andy sourced several non-genetically modified popcorn varieties from his seed dealer and was able to use his pumpkin planter to sow them. He borrowed equipment to harvest, dry and then shell the corn after it dried fully on the cob. “It’s a lot of handwork that takes a lot of time,” the farmer observed, which contributes to a price per pound about double that of non-GMO, Midwest-grown popcorn.
Many customers seem OK with paying the premium, said Gary Mashia of Hinesburg’s Lantman’s Market, who recently placed a reorder. Andy said the family has sold about a third of its inventory, which includes last summer’s smaller, weather-impacted harvest.
Charlie, now 6, is very proud of his popcorn, his dad said, though he’s not yet able to help much with all the labor. “He’s more moral support,” Andy said with a laugh.
His son does enjoy helping feed corn into the sheller, but the fun begins when judging if the popcorn is dry enough to package. After a grain moisture tester reads about 12 percent, “you see how well it pops,” Andy explained.
The family — which includes Charlie’s older sister, Emmie — eats their popcorn made with avocado oil in an old Whirley Pop popper. Charlie likes it with a sprinkle of cinnamon, his dad said.
The Lapierres’ neighbors, Becca and Tim Lindenmeyr of seed-to-soap company Farm Craft VT, carry Poppin’ Charlie’s in their on-farm shop. The popcorn, Becca said by email, has a “richer taste” compared with most commercial popcorn and “smaller kernels that don’t get stuck in my teeth.”
Beyond that, she added, it’s been a delight to watch Charlie so “thrilled to see his idea take shape.” It’s experiences like these, Becca said, that may help inspire young Vermonters to farm.
Correction, January 22, 2025: An earlier version of this story did not fully describe the breadth of farming activities on Lapierre Farm.
Poppin’ Charlie’s popcorn is currently stocked at Claussen’s Florist, Greenhouse & Perennial Farm in Colchester; Bushel Market, Good Times Café and Lantman’s Market in Hinesburg; Farm Craft VT in Shelburne; Red Barn Market & Deli in South Burlington; and Woodstock Farmers’ Market in Waterbury and Woodstock. For more information, email poppincharliespopcorn@gmail.com.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Pop to It | Inspired by their young son, a Shelburne farm family grows and sells Poppin’ Charlie’s popcorn”
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2025.
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