Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: What is your company's policy on giving extra bags to share popcorn?

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Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-17-2009, 11:09 PM:

For years my theatre/company has offered the same boxes we give out for carrying a handful of items. We recently switched to a #6 paper bag and some of the customers have been so indignant about this. We made the change because the carryout boxes cost about 7¢ each and we would routinely have customers asking for 3-4 boxes. The #6 bags cost about 1.5¢ each. Plus the boxes have a bigger profile in the trash.

We've had so many people upset about the boxes that we started offering them for 25¢ and we've actually had a fair number of people buying them.

I'm just curious to know how other theatres handle this issue.

Posted by Andrew Bangs (Member # 4938) on 01-17-2009, 11:48 PM:

We don't offer an extra bag as the bags are part of our inventory and our company want's to keep track of each sale/bag. I have given a customer or two a plastic gallon Zip lock bag that we have spare in the back. Some even bring in their own bag or bowl and this is ok with us.

The most common request we get is if we could fill the bag half full let them put on butter and then fill the rest of the bag but due to cross contamination issues we can't do this so I give them a courtesy cup so they can take some extra butter in with them and pour it on half way through the movie instead of having to come out of the movie.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 01-17-2009, 11:52 PM:

We have these little card cones to give to customers, this works quite well. They have a printed side with similar graphics to our normal popcorn boxes.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-18-2009, 03:21 AM:

We run into that almost all the time, esp. in our discount theatres. Thus,we have a 16 oz "boat" that we charge a quarter (used to give them out for free...) if they want to share a 130 or 170oz popcorn out of..

We can also add to this comment about extra drink cups to share a 44oz drink: Same thing - we have 12oz courtesy cups that we charge a quarter if the drink is to be shared as well..

It's funny how families can come in looking like they're not doing to bad, yet go into "scrooge" mode when it comes to buying concessions...and try to get as much for little as they can give out..

-Monte

Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 01-18-2009, 08:08 AM:

We are in a "discount" society. It is the trend to seek out the best bargains. Every advertisement touts the %off and how that is a great deal.

In the theater we offer some "specials". They should be better received than they are. I think that advertising the specials by the amount they save would be a great sales tool.

Our customers always ask "how much do you save by getting that?"
Put the % saved on the menu board and see what happens.

KEN [thumbsup]

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-18-2009, 09:00 AM:

You should also point out that it's unlikely that the cardboard in the carry-out boxes were made of food-grade materials. It very well could've been that the people were eating small amounts of chemicals the cardboard was treated with along with the popcorn.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 01-18-2009, 10:14 AM:

Layered butter used to be the norm!

The way we did it in the olden days was to prefill the popcord containers half way up with just popcorn in the warmers...when the order comes in...if it is to be buttered...you butter it, add more corn to finish and butter again. If it is was to be no-butter...just fill the container the rest of the way and you are done.

With this method, very few people could service a very large "rush" and everyone got what they wanted. Then again, we also used tubs, not the bags...which I hate (too noisey and they leak).

Steve

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-18-2009, 01:51 PM:

Agreed with Steve G.

We use buckets and we layer the butter. All get two layers, and the biggest bucket gets 3 layers.

Bags take way longer to fill. We used to sell a small "plain" bag (no butter allowed) but it took so much longer to fill them than the smallest bucket, we just eliminated them.

Going back to the original question, we charge a quarter for a small or medium sized "sharing" cup which can be used for pop or popcorn.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 01-19-2009, 02:24 AM:

We offer 8oz courtesy cups for free, we give out as many as are requested.

Justin, I assume you have self serve butter machines, hence your concern about cross contamination. We have out butter machines behind the stand so layer medium and large popcorn bags. Question though, how do you handle refills? Does the customer get a fresh bag or do you not do them at all?

And as for bags, those eco bags that came in the Boxoffice magazine a few months back (made from recycled paper) didn't leak at all. Whatever kind of bags Carmike uses also do not leak. I've seen a 'lake' of butter in the bottum of a bag (and scolded a concession attendant for it) but still no leakage.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-19-2009, 02:39 AM:

For refills we use the same bag and punch a hole in it toward the bottom. If the bag is gross or torn up then they are SOL.

Our butter machines are behind the counter so cross contamination isn't a concern for us - I think that was someone else who replied.

We use Packaging Concepts bags and we have never had a problem with leaks. We used to use the Bagcraft Funburst bags which were ok, but the Packaging Concepts are much better and they are not as thick.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-19-2009, 03:31 AM:

quote: Dustin Mitchell
I've seen a 'lake' of butter in the bottum of a bag

that's a bit gross there....Bet your oil to popcorn ratio on inventory got knocked off a bit there..

We used to use IMP Bondware (?) but now switched over to Bagcraft for the sake of economics..

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-19-2009, 04:11 AM:

Monte, you might want to check and see if your supplier carries the Packaging Concepts bags or look into buying directly to the manufacturer. We found the prices to be quite a bit cheaper than the Bagcraft.

If you order from the manufacture, you may have to order a pallet at a time of the various sizes, but as long as you have the storage the savings could well be worth it.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-19-2009, 05:26 AM:

Can that company do company logo and design printing, or are they all preprinted with generic designs pertaining to popcorn and theatres?

thx-Monte

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 01-19-2009, 09:18 AM:

quote: Dustin Mitchell
I've seen a 'lake' of butter in the bottum of a bag

Once I asked an old manager of mine for a courtesy bag of corn on my break and he was like "I'm giving you my horse-killer corn." Normally, on the machine's settings you'd add 3 squirts of butter to our large bag and these courtesy bags were pretty small... and he proceeded to put 20 shots in both middle and top. It tasted awful.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 01-19-2009, 10:06 AM:

I work for several independant theaters.
They give the customer a choice of either a small paper bag
or a small cardboard tray for customers who want to share
popcorn. They've also got some 8oz DIXIE cups in which we
provide free (tap) ice water. Some people will grab a
a couple of cups to split their popcorn in. Especially
if they are with very small children. This gives each
kid his/her own cup & keeps them happy. (And quiet!) [Big Grin]

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-19-2009, 01:36 PM:

quote: Monte L Fullmer
Can that company do company logo and design printing, or are they all preprinted with generic designs pertaining to popcorn and theatres?

I'm pretty sure they can do custom designs, but you have to buy large quantities. If you're buying for multiple locations, that's probably not a huge deal.

Their generic bag is just a colorful bag that says "Popcorn". They have different colors for the 46oz, 85oz, 130oz, and 170oz. This image shows the new design which is not shown on their web site.

They also have an attractive kids tray that's a pretty good price.

[ 01-19-2009, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Justin Hamaker ]

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 01-20-2009, 06:19 PM:

We use that design of kids tray with our own branding, it is easy to assemble and pretty robust. Gives you something to do when it is slow on the stand.

Another option for sharing popcorn is to use pick 'n' mix boxes if you give them out. I don't do any ordering but would guess buying lots of one item that can do two jobs is more cost effective than less of two different items.

Posted by Robert Crabtree (Member # 4795) on 01-22-2009, 01:05 PM:

Not only more cost effective, but also more resistant to running out of said item. Now that our S/M/L drinks use the same lids, I don't think we've ever run out.

As for sharing popcorn, we just give out the plastic trays that come with our kid's meal.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 01-22-2009, 01:18 PM:

(Sorry in a late reply..) Thx Justin for this info. I'll pass it along to the superiors who's in charge in this department.

-Monte

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 01-23-2009, 11:28 PM:

Robert, how do your drinks use the same lids? Longer cups?