Sweet tooth cravers rejoice! Syracuse-based gourmet popcorn shop The Kandied Kernel Popcorn and Kreamery has expanded to the eastern suburbs area by opening a location in the Fayetteville Commons at 511 E. Genesee St.
The Kandied Kernel offers a wide variety of popcorn flavors, and owner Missy Kelly said on any given day the shop will have 20 to 25 flavors available to buy. A short list of some of the flavor options includes five types of caramel corn, buffalo and bleu cheese, pickle flavored, cinnamon bun frosting and cheddar pretzel ale.
“A lot of it is trial and error,” said Kelly. “We look on the internet to get ideas. We look at the hot trends. The cheddar pretzel ale is really hot right now as an appetizer. When you see the hot pretzel being dipped into a beer battered cheese, that’s kind of where that flavor came from.”
Kelly, co-owner of the business, said she and her boyfriend Dave Taylor have traveled a lot and got the idea to open a specialty shop in a building they owned in Armory Square four years ago.
“We just traveled a lot before we were self-employed and we always found ourselves in the caramel corn shops and sweet shops and treat shops. We liked treating ourselves,” said Kelly. “We both love caramel corn and thought it would be fun to do and fill a niche in Syracuse.”
Since then, the Armory Square shop has closed, but the business has expanded to have two other locations in Liverpool and Cicero, with the most recent expansion being in Fayetteville.
In addition to the many gourmet popcorn options, Kelly said the business has recently started to offer homemade ice cream to compliment the popcorn.
“We make it from scratch, we do a premium cream ice cream so we use a really high quality cream that’s delivered twice a week and we just add sugar and other ingredients,” Kelly said “I’ve gotten a good response from that. People just tend to like things that are natural. There’s no chemicals, no preservatives, no additives. It is what it is.”
In addition to popcorn and ice cream, The Kandied Kernel also offers a “popcorn bar” for parties and fundraisers, as well as build-your-own tins and personalized popcorn bags for events like weddings and birthdays.
The Fayetteville shop opened on Aug. 5 and Kelly said the location is ideal because of the traffic flow and the foot traffic the area gets.
“A lot of people have told me on Facebook that they’re so excited we’re coming to the area,” said Kelly. “On our first full day, there was a lot of really good response from the community. They’re all really happy we’re here because it’s a fun place and people can bring their whole family here.”
The Fayetteville location is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
To learn more about The Kandied Kernel, visit their website kandiedkernel.com or like them on Facebook.
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
