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CommodityFocusChickpeas/Popcorn

FeaturedTopicInformation Technology

The World Loves Mexican Chickpeas 16

Cretors and Popcorn’s Holy Grail 20

Content

02 IFTmag

04 Argentina’s Chickpea revolution

10 How Argentina Became the World’s Top Popcorn Exporter

22 Argentina Popcorn Market

Chinese Officials Encouraging Bean Consumption 08

Book Review: Foodopoly 12

Editorial Standards ChairmanDario Bard

DirectorNicole Calzacorta

Copy EditorsDario Bard, Charlie Higgins

Editorial TeamDario Bard, Charlie Higgins, Nicole Calzacorta

Contributors:Dario Bard, Charlie Higgins, Randal Fairman, Zeynep Cermen

Editorial DesignDiego Fabbri Arpón

Advertising SalesContact Nicole Calzacortaat mag@goift.com ©IFT Solutions, Inc. 2013 All Rights Reserved / ISSN 0000-0001

For years it was considered un-likely that Argentina’s chickpea industry would ever be mentio-ned alongside the world’s major exporters like Australia, Turkey or Mexico. But recently the country best known for the quality of its beef and soybeans has seen its production of garbanzos skyroc-ket, and many Argentine farmers are jumping on the bandwagon.

The numbers speak for themsel-ves. In 2011-2012 Argentina produ-ced a record 114,357 metric tons of chickpeas; in 2005 that figure was less than 5,000 metric tons. The to-tal surface area for chickpeas was just 3,000 hectares in 2000; nine years later that number had jum-ped to 13,000, and last year it rea-ched a record 73,000 hectares.

The trend may surprise most Ar-gentines, who as a nation consu-me less than 6,000 metric tons of chickpeas a year. These days most Argentine chickpeas are shipped overseas, primarily to

the European Union (37.5% of ex-port volume in 2011) and Turkey (21.8%). Israel is another impor-tant market for Argentine chick-peas, as are regional purchasers Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

Unlike in many countries outside the Middle East—particularly the United States, Canada, Britain and Australia—hummus has yet to catch on as a snack food in Argen-tina, and is consumed almost exclu-sively by descendents of Armenian, Lebanese and Israeli immigrants. Chickpeas are used to make cold salads, stews and fainá, a chickpea flour-based fried bread typically ser-ved with pizza, but it is not a com-mon ingredient in the local diet.

While you probably won’t start to see hummus or chickpeas at the Argentine dinner table any time soon, the emerging cash crop has shown enormous potential for growers and exporters. Accor-ding to Key Market, an Argentine market research firm, the total

surface area for garbanzos could reach 350,000 hectares if the in-dustry remains solid.

Chickpea-istoryChickpeas have been grown in Argentina since colonial times, though historically cultivation never surpassed a total surface area of 10,000 hectares. Origina-lly concentrated among the Jesuit settlements in Cordoba province during the 17th century, chickpea production eventually found its home in the Northwest provinces of Salta, Jujuy and Tucuman whe-re it remained until roughly 2007.

Today Cordoba is once again a key region for chickpeas in Argen-tina, particularly the central and northeast areas of the province. Chickpeas have also expanded into areas of the country previously believed to be unfit for cultivation, such as the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires.

Argentina’s Chickpea Revolution

FEATURE

04 IFTmag

In recent years the world’s second largest soybean producer has seen exponential growth in garbanzo production. An overnight trend or long-term commitment?

By Charlie Higgins

The only chickpea variety cu-rrently grown in Argentina is Ka-buli, though the possibility of culti-vating Desi chickpeas, whose main market is India, remains on the table. Grown mostly in India, Ban-gladesh and Pakistan, Desi chick-peas represent roughly 85% of the world market, compared to 15% for Kabuli, a variety grown mostly in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Mexico. Why Garbanzos?The total surface area for Argentina’s chickpea market jumped from 40,000 hectares in 2010-2011 to nearly 80,000 in the 2011-2012 campaign, according to Noticias Argentinas. That may not seem like much in the context of worldwide

production, which is estimated at around 10 million hectares, but it does represent a significant chan-ge for the South American country. What’s behind this seemingly over-night fascination with garbanzos?

Matias G. Macera, a senior trader at Desdelsur S.A., Argentina’s bi-ggest garbanzo exporter, says se-veral key factors have led farmers to try chickpeas as an alternative winter crop to wheat.

“Lately the government has placed heavy price controls on wheat, which has been selling for less and less each year, and so many farmers began growing chickpeas. This coincided with two years of strong prices and ex-ceptional weather conditions for

chickpeas. These factors all came together to make garbanzos a via-ble alternative to wheat,” Macera explained.

In such a variable political and eco-nomic environment, Argentine far-mers have learned that adaptability is a key to survival, and the recent surge in chickpea cultivation serves as a prime example of this mentality.

“Producers need to innovate constantly and have alternati-ves so that when they’re forced to change because of political or climactic conditions, they can say, for example, ‘Okay this year I am going to try garbanzos and I already have experience growing them.’ A lot of farmers tried gar-banzos to gain that experience.”

CATEGORY

Bad Weather, Bad ChickpeasFor many chickpea farmers in Argentina, the optimism came to a sudden halt this year, which saw the worst harvest since the boom began. Groundwater levels, a critical factor determining chickpea yield, were unusually low during winter planting in May. Later, during the harvest season between late October and early February, crops were severely damaged by heavy rainfall.

“Garbanzos are a product in which quality is more im-portant than quantity. Unlike soybeans, for example, garbanzo beans wind up directly on the consumer’s plate, so beans that are damaged, discolored, under-sized, etc. sell for a lot less. This year the climactic conditions in some areas affected the final quality of the garbanzos, so the average price for garbanzos was lower than it has been,” Macera said.

Prices are largely determined by the size of the beans produced. In Argentina, Chickpeas measuring 9 milli-meters pay top dollar, while 7-millimeter beans may sell for up to 40% less. This year producers reported an average size of 8 millimeters, which came as a di-sappointment to those involved in the industry.

The poor results of this year’s harvest could mean that farmers who experimented with chickpeas for the first time avoid the risk of another bad year and return to more familiar crops. Those who have pro-ven experience with chickpeas, however, recognize that 2012, with the rainiest harvest season in 15 years, was an exception. Many have even decided to increase their surface area for chickpeas.

“There are a lot of people for whom this was their first year growing chickpeas, and it didn’t turn out well for them because it rained too much during the harvest. I think very few of these first-year far-mers are going to decide to plant again this year.

“All that aside, garbanzos are here to stay in Argenti-na. Yields have been excellent the last three years—between 1500 and 2300 kg/ under normal weather conditions—and many clients in the Middle East have praised our chickpeas for their flavor and quality. I am confident that we will continue to grow in terms of surface area and export volume,” Macera said.

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UPDATE

Recent trends in many areas point to China moving more and more into the mainstream of the developing world. It will be interesting and impor-tant for the legume industry to see whether Chinese culture embraces the obvious health benefits of eating legumes. If the Chinese government is successful in moving their people toward consumption of legumes in quantities similar to those being consumed in the rest of the developing world, it will most certainly have a major impact on the world market.

In August 2012 at the second annual forum on the health of dry beans there were 100 experts gathered for that very purpose. Government and industry leaders in China together with foreign experts expres-sed hope that the scientific community and the industry could work together to draw attention to beans and guide consumers to a more rational diet that includes these valuable food crops.

A Michigan State University report that has received significant attention in China emphasizes that beans are going to be an important food crop this millennium. The report notes that beans are rich in protein, fiber, carbohy-drates, vitamin B and other antioxidants, making them highly nutritional.

The Chinese are also beginning to emphasize that dry beans can help people lose and control their weight, and prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases. For example, research shows that including two kinds of grains or beans in one’s daily diet can reduce the chance of developing diabetes mellitus by 21%. This is particu-larly important in China, where diabetes is a significant problem.

According to the Michigan State University report, China is projecting an increase in bean and grain consumption of 25% by 2020. The report emphasizes that the nation must prepare itself to face this increased demand. Certainly there is potential for a significant impact to the glo-bal bean and grain industry if these projections materialize.

Chinese Officials Encouraging Bean Consumption

In recent years the consumption of legumes in the developing world has had a modest overall increase. The total worldwide per capita average consumption is now just over 6 kg per person per year. China’s per capita average consumption still remains at less than a fifth of the worldwide average. Any significant change in consumption habits for this population will certainly have an impact on the entire industry.

By Dr. Randall Fairman

08 IFTmag

FEATURE

How Argentina Became the World’s Top Popcorn Exporter

In 2012, despite a poor harvest, Argentina exported more than 185,000 tons of popcorn, making it once again the world’s top popcorn exporter, a title it has tou-ted for roughly a decade, back when it surpassed the export figures of the U.S., the traditional popcorn king.

To a large extent, when it comes to popcorn, Argentina is the mirror image of the U.S.; the countries’ growing seasons are reversed, and while the U.S. represents the largest popcorn market in the world, consuming 90% of its own production, Argentina’s domestic mar-ket is miniscule, freeing up most of its production for export. These factors help explain Argentina’s me-teoric rise as popcorn bucket to the world, exporting 270,000 tons of popcorn per year on average. But for the full story, it is best to start at the beginning, in 1985, when popcorn trader Carlos Wetzler returned to his native country following a stint in the U.S. that convinced him of something he had long suspected: there was popcorn potential in Argentina.

Before 1985, popcorn was a low-yield crop in Argentina due to the seed type being planted. That year, Wetzler convinced a grower in Tucuman to accompany him to the U.S., where they arranged to bring back two hy-brids (Iopop 12 and P608). Right away, crop yields jum-ped from 1200 kilograms per hectare to between 3000 to 3500 kilograms per hectare. As a result, popcorn cultivation took hold in the northeastern provinces of Tucuman, Santiago del Estero and Salta, where trans-portation costs relative to profits were more favorable than in other parts of the country.

At less than 500 tons a year, Argentina’s domestic market is small, and so the country’s popcorn pio-neers looked to foreign markets to sell their crop. They first turned to neighboring Brazil, the largest popcorn market in South America and one of the lar-gest in the world. Argentine popcorn was able to crack the market there because, thanks to the new hybrids, the quality of its popcorn matched that of the U.S.

It wasn’t until the mid-’90s, however, that Argentina popped up as a major player on the international pop-corn scene. For Diego Morales of ConAgra Argentina,

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By Dario Brad

“In 1990, the value of a ton of soy for a U.S. pro-ducer was US$ 120. We were selling popcorn in various international markets at US $500 a ton,” recalls Norberto Nobili, a popcorn producer back then and now president of the commercial chain American Baby Pop, a company that sells Baby Pop brand popcorn in Argentina.”

“We produced so much popcorn,” Nobili says, “that we had to open other markets, like Europe and Asia.” To get their products to foreign mar-kets, Argentine producers had to create their own processing and storage facilities, and develop effi-cient foreign sales operations. “We learned to pre-pare the product, followed certain standards, im-ported Cretors equipment to measure expansion, and with U.S. parameters we went about selling it, either through brokers or directly, like we did with Brazil.” Today, a large number of popcorn opera-tions are fully integrated, controlling all aspects of the operation from field to port.”

Argentina is now recognized worldwide for high-quali-ty popcorn on par with that of the U.S. In 2013, Argen-tine popcorn was exported to 100 countries, with pri-mary markets in the Mid-East, Asia and South America.

Today, Argentina’s popcorn industry enjoys a num-ber of competitive advantages. The growing condi-tions in its pampa region are excellent and there is no shortage of available acreage. Even in the present era of the soy bean boom, there is room for popcorn, which is often included in crop rotations even by lar-ge soy farms due to its high market price. Additio-nally, the country benefits from low shipping costs to Asian markets due to container repositioning; the cost of shipping a 20 foot container (25 tons) from Argentina to Asia rangers between US$ 500 and US$ 600. These factors, combined with the industry’s adoption of the latest technologies and methods in popcorn production and processing, have transfor-med Argentina into a popcorn powerhouse.

To preserve its position in the world, the Argentine popcorn industry banded together in 2008 to create CAMPI, an association dedicated to setting produc-tion and quality standards and criteria, unifying spe-cifications, protecting the interests of the industry and raising issues with the national government.

All signs point to Argentina continuing to cement its position as the popcorn bucket to the world in co-ming years.

there were two key milestones in the industry’s evo-lution. The first was the U.S. drought of ’96-‘97, when popcorn prices hit a historic high.

Yoki in Brazil was ConAgra’s biggest popcorn client at the time, and the company expanded existing operations in Argentina to include popcorn and take advantage of Mercosur provisions which made it possible not only to supply Yoki, but also expand ConAgra’s reach in Brazil. The second milestone was the U.S. drought of 2000-2001, when ConAgra called on its Argentine operations to make up for the lost crop and provide seeds for the following season.

“Yoki now produces its own popcorn,” says Morales, “but ConAgra continues to see its operations in Ar-gentina as important in case of a poor season in the U.S.” Morales notes that this year, 30,000 tons of Ar-gentine popcorn are slated to supply the U.S. market.

“Carlos envisioned the possibilities for popcorn in Argentina,” says Morales, giving Wetzler credit for spearheading the industry’s growth and bringing it to ConAgra’s attention. “Over time, the Argenti-ne popcorn industry became more professional and there was a lot of research on hybrids, even testing new hybrids from the U.S. here in Argen-tina. Year after year, yields and quality impro-ved. Popcorn producers invested in processing technology. When Argentina started producing popcorn, there was a big difference between Ar-gentine popcorn and U.S. popcorn. Now, everyo-ne is certified, everyone is working with the latest processing technology. Argentine popcorn is now competing at the same level as U.S. popcorn.”

Morales, who is a CAMPI board member, no-tes, “ConAgra is the largest popcorn producer in the U.S. The quality of our popcorn is re-nowned worldwide, and since Argentina is the main popcorn exporter, it is essential that we have a presence here.”

“The secret to Argentina’s success,” Wetzler sums up, “was seeds from the U.S. and a crop that small farmers could produce.”

REVIEW

Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America was written by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food; Water Watch, a Washington D.C.-based watchdog organization focused on corporate and government accountability related to food and water.

Book Review: Foodopoly

The meticulously researched book provides nume-rous compelling cases supporting the author’s the-me that we must reform America’s policies and sys-tems governing food and agriculture – a theme that few would argue with.

Unfortunately, despite the author’s obvious passion for the subjects of food and agriculture, Foodopoly ultimately falls short due to the author’s myopic focus on “appropriate size” farms, increased government regulation and a return to organic farming as solu-tions. But, even though Foodopoly clearly shows the author’s biases, it is nevertheless a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the evolution (or arguably devolution) of our agricultural and food systems.

To her credit, the author recognizes early in the book that U.S. farmers are not to blame for the “broken subsidy system” and misguided U.S. Farm Bill policies that have diminished their numbers. Instead she places most of the blame squarely on the U.S. Congress and a cabal of corporate titans that formed the influential Committee for Economic Development (CED) shortly after Word War II. The author suggests that beginning in the late 1950s under then-President Eisenhower, the CED played a key role in reducing both the political power and numbers of farmers in America.

According to the author, the CED achieved this by lo-bbying Congress and the Eisenhower administration to adopt laws and policies that undermined New Deal legislation – moving farmers from fixed price supports (price floors) to flexible price supports (the beginning of their demise). Although the author’s conspiratorial tone can undermine her point at times, it is difficult to disagree with her on many of the important numbers. There was, in fact, a 50% reduction in the U.S. farm po-pulation from 1950 to 1970. And it’s also true that there are far fewer but much bigger farms in America today than there were 50 years ago (just 12% of farms produ-ce 88% of all farm products in the U.S).

Where the author runs into trouble is in her inter-pretation of the significance of these changes. She is too quick to blame the reduction in family farms on the evil influences of the CED and the free-trade-at-all-costs policies and practices that she suggests arose as a result of outsized CED influence. Arguing against free trade agreements, she cites statistics by the Economic Policy Institute saying that NAFTA has been responsible for the loss of 700,000 U.S. jobs and for forcing 2 million Mexican peasant farmers from their lands. However, she loses credibility with readers on this point because she fails to make any mention of the new industries and millions of new jobs that have been attributed to NAFTA.

12 IFTmag

The author makes her three most compelling cases when addressing the incredible consolidation of the retail industry, the meat production and processing industries, and what she feels is a dangerous erosion of food safety regulations and enforcement in the U.S. In the area of food safety and animal farming (factory farming as she calls it), she no-tes that the number of USDA meat inspectors has been cut dramatica-lly and at some chicken slaughter facilities belt speeds have increased from 140 birds a minute to as high as 210 birds a minute, making USDA inspection all but impossible.

With supporting data, she questions why the companies producing 85% of the countries ground beef supplies only provide 1% of the samples tested by the U.S. government. One of the most illuminating parts of Foodopoly is when the author makes a well-supported case to end the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock. She cites U.S. Center for Disease Control statistics indicating that 2 million people in the U.S. get infections that are resistant to antibiotics and that 90,000 die as a result. She is in the company of many renowned scientists and health profes-sionals when she argues convincingly that if we continue to use 80% of all our antibiotics for livestock, we will not only put ourselves at great risk of infections spreading from animals to humans but we will also lose antibiotics that are vital for human use (for another eye-opening perspective on this issue, read Jonathon Safron Foer’s Eating Animals).

The author’s clear passion and belief in the viability of her solutions does draw you in. Unfortunately, it remains doubtful that the general public and U.S. Congress will share her sense of urgency.

Reading Foodopoly may well change your sense of urgency for the need to find solutions – even if opinions differ from those of the author. Pick up a copy of Foodopoly today. Yes, it’s flawed, but its definitely worth your time.

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In the final chapter of the book the author proposes 10 actions that are necessary to save our failing agriculture and food systems.

14 IFTmag

Widely considered the best in the world, jumbo chickpeas out of Sinaloa, Mexico have effectively made Spain’s national production obsolete.

The World Loves Mexican Chickpeas

FEATURE

By Charlie Higgins

16 IFTmag

With its warm subtropical climate, Sinaloa is considered the agricultu-ral capital of Mexico and is the country’s top garbanzo producer. To-gether with adjacent Sonora, another important chickpea state, Sina-loa produced 93,364 metric tons of garbanzos in 2010, representing 70.9% of Mexico’s total output that year. Annually the crop generates between US$ 150 and US$ 180 million, roughly 15% of the yearly pro-fits generated by corn in Mexico.

Sinaloa also boasts the world’s highest chickpea productivity levels in the world, with approximately 1,480 kg per hectare, followed by Aus-tralia (1,100 kg/h), Turkey (800 kg/h) and Ethiopia (760 kg/h). Chickpeas grown here are widely considered the best in the world due to their rich flavor and impressive size, a fact that allows Mexico to compete with India, the world’s biggest producer and consumer of chickpeas. In recent years, Indian chickpea exports have decreased due to poor har-vests and government restrictions, allowing Mexico to compete despi-te problems of its own.

Though it’s true that marketing plays a major role in linking certain crops to specific agricultural regions in the minds of consumers—Florida oranges anyone?—some plants just seem to look, taste and feel better when grown in the right place. In the case of chickpeas, a.k.a. garbanzos, that place is Sinaloa, Mexico.

“The world market has low stockpiles of this grain, and while India leads the pack in terms of quantity, we must remember that when it comes to quality, Sinola chickpeas are the best and most in de-mand in the world,” said Jaime Guardado Ayala, vice president of the National Chickpea Producers and Exporters Union (UNPEG), in El Diario De Sinaloa last year.”

distributed within Spain, have been greatly affected by this phenomenon. According to the University of Sevilla, Spain currently imports 87% of its chickpeas, mostly from Mexico. Professor Manuel Delgado, who published the data last year, said that from an envi-ronmental perspective the statistic is alarming indeed.

Spain’s love for Mexican chickpeas actually dates back more than seven decades, long before the term globalization became common discourse, though the numbers have certainly multiplied over the years. In 1933, the Mexican Ambassador to Spain wrote:

Mexico and India are the only countries capable of growing the jumbo-sized chickpeas so highly sought after in the world market. In Mexico, chickpeas mea-suring 12 mm or more are standard; elsewhere, si-zes typically range from 7 to 9 mm, with the smallest beans generally being sold off to feed lots.

As of 2010, Mexico was the world’s eighth largest chickpea producer, with approximately 131,895 metric tons. Mexico exports chickpeas all over the world, including garbanzo-producing countries like India, Turkey, Algeria and the United States.

Its biggest client in Europe is Spain, where the pri-ce of imported premium Sinaloan chickpeas is ex-pected to reach US$ 1,700 per metric ton this year.

Transatlantic ChickpeasAn article published in ABC de Sevilla last year lamen-ted the decline of Spanish agriculture in the face of globalization, saying “Cheap labor, lack of environmen-tal controls and the ease of establishing companies in the developing world are all factors that the food in-dustry is taking advantage of as it expands overseas.”

Garbanzos, which were once commonly grown and

“The fact that 87% of the beans consumed in Spain are imported, mainly from Mexico, has meant that the surface area for this crop has declined dramatically in Spain, with the loss of jobs and the landscapes that this implies. The data in this new report shows once again that the industrial system of agriculture and food aggravates the climatic, ecological and alimen-tary crises.”

Eulogio Sanchez Hernandez, a former trader at Ali-mentos Naturales and key player in the Spain-Mexico chickpea trade, sheds some light on the situation, which he says is in large part due to high prices being paid for cereals.

As long as cereal prices in Spain remain high and chic-kpea production in Mexico remains cheap, the tran-satlantic garbanzo trade is unlikely to change much. However, as with any chickpea market, India can always be counted on to keep things interesting. Her-nandez explains:

Unfortunately, weather has not been on the side of Sinaloa’s chickpea producers this year. Winter frosts have damaged over 15,000 hectares of chickpea crops, affecting an estimated 19,500 people, according to the Sinaloa State Government. Inevitable price increases could mean Mexican chickpeas face a difficult year in Spain, which will be keeping a close eye on prices co-ming out of India during these crucial harvest months.

18 IFTmag

“Spain abandoned chickpea cultivation years ago. Although some farmers still plant the whi-te Sinaloa variety, they can’t obtain adequate sizes. The real reason though is the high prices for cereals, mainly wheat, barley and sunflower. As long as these crops maintain high prices, farmers here will not plant chickpeas regularly. The yields are lower and they require a lot more work,” Hernandez says.

“Of course India plays a major role. The two harvests occur simultaneously and good pro-duction in India, where prices are always better, affects the price and sale of Mexican garban-zos. But when the harvest in India is poor, the only alternative for jumbo chickpeas is Mexico.”

In Spain Mexican garbanzos are considered the best in world, both for their size and, to a grea-ter extent, their ease of preparation. Garbanzos are grown in Spain and their cultivation is one of the most important in the country, but it’s not enough to meet the internal demand. In many cases harvests are lost due to adverse weather conditions, for which importation from Mexico becomes necessary. Mexico is not widely known as an origin of chickpeas. Importers often sell them as “monster” or “special” beans, but only rarely do they indicate the country of origin.

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Then, as today, kernels were bought by pre-popped weight and sold by post-popped volume. If the expan-sion ratio for a crop could be iden-tified, the Chicago gathering rea-soned, then the processor would know the quality of the kernels he was buying, the growers could com-mand a better price for higher-qua-lity corn, and the end users (con-cession stands and theaters) could count on satisfied customers.

The Chicago meeting was orga-nized by the Popcorn Processors Association and among its atten-dees was C.J. Cretors, who grew a modest amount of corn and, more significantly, was intimately invol-ved with C. Cretors & Co., the com-pany founded by his grandfather in 1885 and renowned for making popcorn concession equipment.

“Dad would start drying at 16 or 17% moisture,” says Charlie Cre-

tors, son of C.J. and until recently president of C. Cretors & Co., “and as the moisture level drop-ped, the expansion improved un-til it would peak. Drying beyond that peak would cause the corn to shrink.” By testing samples with the OVT, growers were able to control all other variables and thus identify the exact moisture level for optimum expansion.

Cretors volume testers have be-come the industry standard not only in the U.S. but everywhere in the world where popcorn is grown and consumed. “You can pop the same sample of corn in California or New York or London and get the same result,” says Charlie. In order to obtain an expansion measure that is universally comparable, the machine is to be used following uniform procedures.

Cretorsand Popcorn’s Holy Grail

FEATURE

20 IFTmag

In the late 1940s, a group of corn growers and processors met in Chicago to talk pop-corn. From that gathering emerged the popcorn business’ Holy Grail: the expansion ratio.

By Dario Brad

Under the guidance of the other Association mem-bers, C. Cretors & Co. released the Official Volume Tester (OVT). Using the machine, a sample of corn could be popped to determine the quality of a crop. Further, used in conjunction with a moisture tester, growers could determine the moisture con-ditions necessary for optimum expansion.

“When you turn it on, you adjust the machine to 1400 watts,” says Andy Karkowski, Parts and Service Mana-ger at C. Cretors & Co., “and when it heats up to 480˚ F, you add 4 ounces of oil. The temperature will drop, so you let it come up to 480˚ F again, and then add a sample of 250 grams of corn in the popper and close the lid. The kettle will heat up and start popping, and when all that corn is popped out, it goes into a cabinet with a hopper that has angled sides and a clear plastic tube in the middle. The corn drops into that tube. You may have to use a paper towel to swipe it all in. Then you pull out the tube and read the lines on it. That will give you the expansion rate of that corn sample in units of cubic cen-timeters output per grams of corn input.”

The use of a metric measure came about thanks to Charlie Cretors.

“We started to get hybrids in the late ’60s, and that led to a huge jump in expansion. When I first came into the industry, corn was popping 900 to 1000 on the old standard. When it got up to 1600 on the test scale, the kernels of corn were too big for the width of the clear plastic tube, so there was a lot of bridging, and it became a very subjective measure. So I said we have to make a new machine. We went with a wider tube, and that addressed the bridging issue. That made the lab people happy, but not the sales people. You see, the old numeric scale came in lower with the wider tube.”

This was an issue for salesmen, who had taken to touting expan-sion numbers in order to brag about the quality of their corn.

“With the first OVT, the number was a pure ratio: the num-ber of cups of popped corn generated by one cup of raw corn. Then, with the OWVT, it became cubic inches per gram. I thought that measure was kind of squirrely, so I had the idea of going metric, and the metric number came out very similar to the old expansion measure of the cup ratio. Actua-lly, it was a little bit higher, and so everyone was happy. And that’s how it became a metric volume tester.”

“The volume tester started out as a laboratory machine; it is primarily intended as a lab machine,” states Charlie. “It is not a sales tool, but the salesmen love it.”

Bragging rights aside, C. Cretors volume tester has helped establish a single, industry-wide measure of popcorn qua-lity. The Holy Grail of the popcorn business is no longer an inaccessible mystery. The number is often included in contacts and those in the popcorn business all over the world rely on a Cretors volume tester for a definitive reading. In fact, when disputes arise, a third party with a Cretors volume tester is called in to provide an impartial determination. C. Cretors & Co. itself has played this role.

“We had General Cinemas come to us to test popcorn they were told was popping at 41. So they sent us bags mar-ked A, B, C, D and E. So we popped all of those and gave them a rating for each bag. And we didn’t know where that popcorn came from, what the hybrid was, anything. All we knew is its popcorn in a bag. We needed enough to run five or six batches, and we would do all of them the same day on the same machine within an hour. And we would give them the results. They would never really tell us what was going on. We just got this ‘Aha’ from them. Looks like someone wasn’t giving them the truth.”

Charlie notes that many movie theater chains now have their own Cretors volume testers to control popcorn quality.

UPDATE

By Dario Brad

2012 RecapArgentina exported more than 185,000 tons of popcorn in 2012, cementing its reputation as the world’s top popcorn exporter despite being well below its annual average of 270,000 tons. The below-average amount is the result of a 2012 growing season marked by severe drought conditions.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” says ConAgra Argentina’s Diego Morales. “This was the worst drought in 80 years and it claimed nearly 50% of the crop.”

Argentina Popcorn Market

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2013 OutlookPlanting for the 2013 season was delayed due to continuing drought followed by excessive rains from Au-gust to November, reports Carlos Wetzler of CFM Brokers. Morales estimates 8 million hectares in Buenos Aires province were flooded.

Even so, Morales expects Argentina will repeat as the top popcorn exporter in 2013, noting that the U.S. ex-perienced drought in 2012 as well, and that 30,000 tons of Argentine popcorn have already been contracted to supply the U.S. market. Morales estimates 50,000 hectares were planted and calculates production at between 200,000 and 220,000 tons.

Wetzler points out that some areas, like the main areas in Salta, were less affected by the adverse weather conditions. But he also expects below average export figures for 2013.

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