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Connecting and Creating Memories, One Bowl of Popcorn at a Time

When people ask us how we started our family business, we point to the recession and the collapse of the newspaper journalism industry.

It was early 2010. I was a national correspondent and my newspaper's parent company had filed for bankruptcy. My editors were closing my office and moving my job from the Midwest to Los Angeles. David and I were newly married. We assumed that David would be able to find work fairly easily in California.

We were wrong.

Months passed. We longed to be together. So we started to cook at the same time - three time zones away from one another - and talk on the phone or over Skype. Cooking became our date night, a way we could connect, create memories and share stories of what happened during our day. Often, we would pop some popcorn and mix up a small batch of our favorite spice recipes to sprinkle on top.

Money was tight. But my parents had raised me to believe that you don't have to be rich to eat well. So for holidays and special occasions, we gave our loved ones edible luxuries of our own making. The biggest hit was always our popcorn and popcorn seasoning gift sets, with toppings we mixed by hand and kernels grown on our family's and friends' farms.

One friend suggested we sell our popcorn & spice mixes. Maybe, she said, it could help offset the cost of our cross-country flights. We started the shop and named our company after the street where we last lived together: Dell Cove.

Over time, our sales grew - and Dell Cove® helped us reunite back in the Midwest, where we continue to grow our popcorn company today. In September of 2012, David quit his day job at an engineering firm and runs the business full time. I'm a journalist by day - and I help David in the evenings and weekends.

The lessons we've learned along the way will carry us throughout our lives. Everyone has a story to tell, so be a good listener. Change is scary - and inevitable. Go ahead and give it a big hug. Ginger helps reduce stress. (But sometimes, all you really need is a good laugh, a great glass of whiskey and a big bowl of popcorn.)

Today, Dell Cove Spices & More Co.® is a small family run business, an insured and licensed S Corp. that works out of certified commercial kitchens, and is a registered FDA facility. Our products are gluten-free, nut-free - and many are sugar-free and vegan friendly. (We never use artificial flavorings or preservatives.) Our popcorn kernels are grown on small family farm operations that use sustainable farming practices.

In early 2021, we moved Dell Cove® to northeastern Indiana. We are thrilled to be in our new home in New Haven, Indiana - just outside of Fort Wayne - closer to family and surrounded by rolling farmland.

(Fun fact: Did you know that Indiana's official state snack is popcorn?)

Welcome to our kitchen. Tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you.

xoxo – Patricia & David