Meet Sam’s Popcorn
Samuel Weavers
SA Youth Week 2024
Youth Week 2024 is an important opportunity to celebrate the achievements of South Australia’s trailblazing youth!
Whenever you are completing studies, involved in spreading social justice, starting your own business, or simply being you, now’s your time to celebrate!
To begin Youth Week, I have interviewed Sam Weavers. Sam, otherwise known professionally as Sam’s Popcorn, is revolutionising the popcorn game. Despite being in high school, Sam has unlocked people’s tastebuds in search of the next big flavour.
Sam’s current range consists from Chocolate Drizzle, Choc-mallow Ball, Pink Himalayan Salt, Lemon Cheesecake, and many more hidden surprises. You can view the whole range here.
But what lies behind the genius? I was privileged to interview Sam on the Sam’s Popcorn Journey.
Q1 ZL: So Sam, who are you?
SW: My name is Sam Weavers. I’m currently 16 years old and in year 12 of high school. When I’m not making popcorn or doing school work, I enjoy spending time with my dog and playing the guitar. I bought my first car last year as a delivery van for my business, and I can’t actually drive it because I’m still on my L plates!
Q2 ZL: That’s actually so cool! So what are some of your achievements?
SW: I’m really proud of how far my business has gotten so far. Throughout the last 18 months or so I’ve been working on supplying my popcorn to United Petroleum stores around South Australia. Right now I’m in 16 United Petroleum stores, with more to come. It really shows how far I’ve come since starting my business, and I always wanted to see my popcorn on a store shelf. I’ve also been lucky enough to win some awards related to my business work which has been a really good experience for me.
Q3 ZL: That’s so good to hear, what exactly made you want to venture into popcorn?
SW: I actually started my business because I didn’t like other people’s popcorn. It tasted artificial, the bags always hid how much popcorn they really had in them and I felt as though when I had a bag of popcorn I was wasting my money. I also just felt like starting a business, and thought to myself, ‘how hard could it be?’
Q4 ZL: A business venture with real purpose! May I ask do you volunteer outside of these commitments?
SW: I frequently volunteer my time for presentations at schools, business groups and community clubs, raising awareness about charities I work with and helping teach students my age and younger how they can start their own businesses. When I was starting my business, I had a lot of trouble with not knowing what I needed to do or who to talk to, and my presentations aim to give that information to kids who want to start their own businesses but don’t know how to.
Q5 ZL: Are there any other things you’ve done to help people?
SW: From when I first started setting up my business, I wanted to raise money for a charity. I found out about the Childhood Cancer Association online, who support kids with cancer and their families without government funding. I set up a partnership with them in 2017 so that I could help them with fundraising for their work, by selling special Sam’s Popcorn pails.
Q6 ZL: One that note, if you had unlimited resources, what would you achieve?
SW: Right now, what I really need to do is get more storage space and possibly employ people to help me manage the business and production. In the future though, I’d love to set up a chain of popcorn stores.
Q7 ZL: Sam’s Popcorn empire, we love it! Onto the final question, what is one piece of advice you would leave to other young people wanting to break through?
SW: I always tell people my age and younger who want to start a business that it takes a long time to organise and maintain. You’ll need to spend free time working on your business for it to go anywhere. That being said, there’s a lot of ways you can start small – I began my business on pocket money from birthdays and science competitions, using temporary cellophane bags and making popcorn on my parents’ stovetop.
I also recommend to just get started, because there are so many things that you can get stuck on while making a business. You won’t be able to make everything perfect before you start selling. Your business will probably just be interacting with your friends and family at first, who will understand that it’s a work in progress.
End.
You can find out more about Sam through his comically cool website.
Zane LeBlond, Cultural Trends Reporter.