Into the factory
The dried ears of popcorn are transferred by conveyor belt to the factory. A machine called a scalper, quickly strips the kernels from the cobs. The kernels then proceed along a specifically designed conveyor belt to which they are ready to be fully cleaned, ready for washing away any dirt or other particles from the kernels.
The kernels are then cleaned and polished, and they then go through a gravity separator to separate the good kernels from bad ones. The separator works by sorting the bad kernels that are hard and heavier and drop though the bottom versus the good kernels which are lighter. The heavier ones are then kept and used for seed.
In the packaging area, popcorn is conveyed from the holding bins to packing machines where it is placed in bags and then boxed for storage or shipment.
