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my supplier just raised the price of their sweetheart 130 oz popcorn tubs from about 40 cents apiece to almost a buck!

If I can't find a better price I may have to switch to bags. Any suggestions?

I've been doing checking on concession pricing this week. Just to let you know, in my area the 130 oz tubs are 38 cents. Maybe that price you got was a mistake, or maybe they are packed more to a case now?

Well, I was paying about 38 cents before.

I hope it is a mistake. Something feels wrong about this. I'll talk to my rep about it and see what shakes out.

Has anybody used the Cinema Buying Group to buy concession stuff? It looks like good prices to me but I wonder if there is high shipping costs or some other kind of hidden fee.

[This message has been edited by leeler (edited July 01, 2006).]

We have been using bags for over a year. They take up soo much less space in the trash, are way cheaper and people don't litter as much with them

You might want to try something I've done for years. Patrons want tubs in my area. They hate bags mainly due to the buttery leaking. I carry both bags and tubs. I charge a .75 premium for a similar size tub over the price of a bag corn. The final result- customers buy my tubs 4 to 1 over bags. And virtually zero complaints about the price difference. If they ask, I tell them of the large cost difference to me. Mainly they are thrilled that they can get a tub as all the other theatres around have only the dreaded bags.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, helvetica">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by reelman:
<B>You might want to try something I've done for years. Patrons in my area want tubs. They hate bags mainly due to the buttery leaking through the bottom. I carry both bags and tubs. I charge a .75 premium for a similar size tub over the price of a bag corn. The final result- customers buy my tubs 4 to 1 over bags. And virtually zero complaints about the price difference. If they ask, I tell them of the large cost difference to me. Mainly they are thrilled that they can get a tub as all the other theatres around have only the dreaded bags.

</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oops-double post.

I get my tubs through PMG. Customized tubs (indoor or drive-in) are less expensive (including shipping) than buying generics from my local concession supply... go figure.

You can buy direct from PCI ( packaging concepts inc out of St. Louis) I buy bags but they sell tubs too. They put butter in the bottom of a bag and leave it on the trade show floor all day to prove their design does not leak when they go to trade shows.

We spent the first few months telling people how the bags are better, take up less space both in shipping and in the landfill. Everyone understood. I do like the idea of an up charge for the tub. That may make me buy into some of these special movie tubs every now and then.

[This message has been edited by dsschoenborn (edited July 03, 2006).]

We don't have butter for our popcorn..Ive never seen it in Australia. I had some when i was in USA years ago..but I wasn't impressed!! People here are too health consious..our 2nd top seller in the drinks after Pepsi is water!! So paper bags are just fine for our corn.

Im curious.. what do you call your popcorn sizes? Especially if you have more than large, medium and small.

often in the US they'll call small "kiddie" in part I think to shame the macho into larger sizes

---

Michael Hurley
Impresario

WE have 4 sizes.
Jr ~ Small ~ Medium ~ Large.

Do some people get a small when they really wanted a medium? Well yes but most time they just take the larger bag.

I was extremely reluctant to bring in tubs b/c I was afraid that customers would not like paying the extra cost.

Well...wish I had them from the start.

We started with the tubs 5/11. We have small (46 oz bag), med (85 oz bag), lg (130 oz bag) and the tubs (170). We have the generic paper and the plastic souvenir tubs. Prices are $1, $1.50, $2 and $4 for the paper tubs, $5 for the souv tubs with $3 refills on future visits.

We have sold approx. equal amounts of all sizes. The higher priced souv. tub has sold almost 85% of all of the tubs.

The souv. tubs do not take up space as they are taken home. Either way the extra space in the trash is far outweighed by the profitability of the tubs as our profit on the 25% of our popcorn sales is greater than the other 75%.

Our bags are from Great Events and we have had great luck in them not leaking.

Tubs are bought from PMG. I will be re-ordering them tomorrow.