How much popcorn do I need for my event?
Popcorn is a great addition to your event! It's an easy to eat snack that just about everyone loves to eat!
The biggest struggle people have when trying to plan for their event is determining how much popcorn they actually need. It really depends, based on the circumstances of the event.
I start with the following questions:
- How many people are you trying to feed?
- Is this an add-on snack or is popcorn the only item that you are serving?
- Is this an adult or kid focused event? How old are the kids?
- What are you planning on serving the popcorn in?
The typical popcorn serving is 3 cups. For events, we use 2-2.5 cups per person as a starting point. Not everyone is going to want some and then the answers to the questions above will guide your estimate up or down.
How many people are you trying to feed?
If the answer is 50 people, that works out to around 100 cups of popcorn. You can see an example here with our 50 Person Popcorn Buffet package. We offer an Extra Large bag (110 cups) that should cover the needs of 50 people easily. If you want to offer more than one flavor, just divide that 100 cups out across the flavors. For 4 flavors of popcorn, you would need 4 Medium Bags (26 cups each) and that will get you roughly the same amount as 1 Extra Large bag of popcorn.
Is this an add-on snack or is the popcorn the only item that you are serving?
If the popcorn is in addition to other snacks available, lower your estimate to 1.5 - 2 cups per person.
For a group of 50 people, that would be around 75 cups of popcorn. One of our Large (42 cup) bags and one Medium bag would cover what you need.
If popcorn is the only snack, stick to the 2-2.5 cups per person model. There are less options available, so more will be eaten.
