Two generations. One kettle. Twenty eight years.
Cactus Corn started with a folding table and a hand painted sign. Today we run concessions inside Chase Field, pop for stadium crowds across the Valley, and ship Arizona made popcorn all over the country. Same family. Same kettle.
One kettle, one canopy, and a chalkboard sign somebody painted by hand. Large six dollars, medium four, small two.
A five bay stand inside Chase Field serving kettle corn, buttered popcorn, craft flavors, and fresh squeezed lemonade to a ballpark.
How a card table became a ballpark stand
Nobody hands you a concession contract at Chase Field. You earn it one event at a time, for a couple of decades.
A kettle, a card table, and a sign we painted ourselves
Mike and Sharon started Cactus Corn in Phoenix in 1998. The whole operation fit in the back of a vehicle. A propane kettle, a stainless bowl, a folding table with a green cloth over it, and a chalkboard sign with a cactus on it.
The pricing was written in chalk because it changed. The popcorn did not. Same kettle method we use today.
Everybody worked the kettle
There was no crew. There were aprons, a stirring paddle, and whoever was available that weekend. Bags got filled by hand, tied by hand, and stacked on the table before the next batch came off the heat.
That is where the second generation learned the business. Not in an office. Standing over a hot kettle in the Arizona sun.
Arizona's Best went on the label
The first printed label said Kettle Corn, seven ounces, manufactured by Cactus Corn in Phoenix, Arizona. Four ingredients. Gourmet popcorn, corn oil, sugar, and Arizona salt.
The recipe on the bag today is still that short. We never saw a reason to make it longer.
The name on the skirt was Mike and Sharon's
Fairs, festivals, swap meets, ballfields, school carnivals. The green tent went up on a Saturday morning and came down Sunday night, weekend after weekend, year after year.
That is how you learn what a crowd actually buys, how fast a line moves, and how much product a venue really needs. You cannot get that from a spreadsheet.
Then the ballpark called
Cactus Corn has a long history at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The first stand was a red arch, a printed menu board, and the same circle logo that was on the tent skirt.
A ballpark is a different sport. Volume, health code, staffing, settlement paperwork, and a hard stop when the gates open. We learned it, and we kept the account.
Same kettle, bigger footprint
Cactus Corn now runs venue concessions, a food truck, a trailer, and a tent operation across the Valley. We make Southwest flavors you cannot buy anywhere else, we print custom labels for corporate clients, and we ship Arizona popcorn nationwide from our Shopify store.
Twenty eight years in, the company is still family owned, still popping in Phoenix, and still using the same kettle method that was on that folding table.
Why large accounts pick us
Anybody can rent a popcorn machine. Very few vendors in Arizona can show you a twenty eight year operating history, a stadium track record, and a licensed mobile kitchen on the same page.
We have been here since 1998
Nearly three decades of continuous operation in the Phoenix market, through every economic cycle in that window. Your event is not our first one.
Stadium scale volume
More than 25,000 bags sold through our Arizona Cardinals partnership at State Farm Stadium. We know how to feed a crowd that arrives all at once.
Licensed and inspected
Equipment is NSF and ANSI certified. We license annually within Maricopa County. The truck is a fully licensed mobile kitchen, not a cart with a permit.
Three ways to serve
Trailer, tent, or truck, plus permanent and semi-permanent concession staffing. We match the setup to your venue instead of forcing your venue to fit our gear.
Made in Phoenix
We pop it here. Corporate gifts, fundraiser bags, and wholesale cases are produced in Arizona, not drop shipped from a warehouse in another state.
You talk to the owner
No account manager layer, no ticket queue. When something needs a decision on event day, the person who can make it answers the phone.
Cactus Corn on Arizona Highways
Our 2024 feature on Arizona Highways Television.
The kid in the apron runs it now
Mike and Sharon built Cactus Corn from a single kettle. Chris Levandowski runs the company today, and he learned it the same way everyone in this family did, by filling bags next to a hot kettle on a Saturday.
That is what two generations actually buys you. Nothing about this business is theoretical here. We have set up in the wind, we have run out of product and learned not to, and we have worked every kind of Arizona venue there is.
Chris is also the incoming President of the Entrepreneurs' Organization Accelerator chapter in Arizona, where he has spent the last several years scaling Cactus Corn from a weekend operation into a year round Arizona brand.
Southwest flavors you cannot get anywhere else
Small batch, kettle popped in Phoenix, in flavors that only make sense coming from Arizona.
Work with us
Whether you need 200 branded gift bags, a food truck at your company picnic, or a concession partner for a full season, it is the same phone number and the same family.
Corporate gifting
Custom labeled snack and full size bags with your logo, plus collectible Arizona tins. Employee gifts, client gifts, conferences, and holiday sends.
See bag pricingBook us for an event
Trailer, tent, or truck at your event with our crew, our gear, and cleanup handled. Weddings, corporate events, festivals, and fundraisers.
Request a bookingWholesale
Retail ready cases of Arizona made popcorn for shops, resorts, gift stores, and grocery. Local wholesale accounts across the state.
Talk wholesale