Corridor Native Fall 2018

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Gene Mealhow is the “guy who likes to do things first.” When he ventured into organic farming in the 1980s, the seldom-used concept resulted in Mealhow’s unofficial title as the “Weed Farmer of Benton County.” Now, as consumers grow more health-conscious and curious about the origins of their food, Mealhow’s methods are paying off. His Shellsburg-based company, Tiny But Mighty Popcorn, has become a staple in natural grocery stores nationwide. Tiny But Mighty Popcorn’s heirloom popcorn is available in bags of popped corn, microwavable pouches and the mainstay – unpopped kernels. The products are on the shelves of area Hy-Vee and Fareway stores, Natural Grocers in Cedar Rapids and New Pioneer Food Co-op stores in Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids. The company’s biggest client is Whole Foods, which stocks the popcorn in all of its stores across the nation. “We have now hired a sales team to work with corporate to do the deals,” said Mealhow, more commonly known as “Farmer Gene.” That’s quite a feat for a centuries-old seed that was once moments away from being popped into extinction. HISTORY OF THE HEIRLOOM SEED The unique pointy popcorn seed that grows irregularly on tiny ears was discovered in Iowa by Samuel Kelty in the 1800s. It is unclear whether he found the seed in the wild or traded it with Native Americans. Fast-forward three generations when Samuel’s great-great-great-grandson, Richard Kelty, returned home to Benton County from the Army. Just as his mother was about to pop the last of the kernels, Richard grabbed the small jar and eventually planted them. With the crop, he started K&K Popcorn (Kelty and Kramer), a modest, yet respectable, business in Urbana. PAGE 5: Gene and Lynn Mealhow stand by the headquarters of Tiny But Mighty Popcorn in an old farrowing barn on their Shellsburg farm. TOP: The heirloom popcorn grows on tiny, three-inch cobs and is distinctive by its pointy kernels and irregular rows. ABOVE: Gene Mealhow adjusts the settings on his digital corn sorter. I have the best popcorn in the world. Farmer Gene (Gene Mealhow), Tiny But Mighty Popcorn 6 CORRIDOR NATIVE FALL 2018
Gene Mealhow checks the crop of his unique heirloom popcorn at his Shellsburg farm where he also grows squash and tomatoes that are sold to Corridor restaurants. Meanwhile, Mealhow was honing his rockstar skills as a drummer in a band in the early 1980s. He also worked on the family farm near Shellsburg, taking care of the hogs in the farrowing barn, or as he calls it, the “maternity ward.” When his dad got out of farming in 1989, he bought 33 acres and began his foray into organic farming. PRACTICING WHAT HE PREACHED In the early 1990s Mealhow was using biological farming techniques he learned from Midwestern BioAg, a Wisconsin-based company with an office in Monticello. He joined the company as a consultant to “spread the word.” Richard Kelty became one of his clients at the urging of Kelty’s son, Brett, who told Mealhow his dad was “having a hard time with his popcorn crop.” After conducting a soil test, Mealhow implemented a program cutting nitrogen in half and increasing calcium and other nutrients. Under the program, Kelty’s crop went from 400 pounds per acre in the early 1990s to 1,000 pounds by 1994. When Kelty was ready to retire in the late 1990s, Mealhow and his wife, Lynn, bought K&K Popcorn, securing the rights to the seed. The Mealhows planted the seed at their Shellsburg farm and converted their farrowing barn into the business’ office and processing facility. They grow and test the seeds, while they contract farmers to grow the product. “You need a certain kind of grower; it’s a food product, not just grain,” Mealhow said. “A lot more work goes into it; everything has to be meticulous.” They start growers with 30-50 acres and increase their load as they feel more comfortable with them. Currently, their two growers, from Cascade and Quasqueton, grow about 100-200 acres each. The corn is stored in large grain bins on the Mealhows’ farm until it is ready to be sent to Rural Route 1 Popcorn in Livingston, Wisconsin, where it is processed and packaged. Early this August, 800,000 pounds of corn was stored in the bins, and Mealhow expected another 200,000 pounds to come in the fall harvest. FOOT IN THE DOOR After changing the company’s name to Tiny But Mighty, the Mealhows wanted to expand their customer base. While they enjoyed a steady business of sending out products from Shellsburg and selling popcorn in area grocery stores, their big break came a few years ago when they entered the Whole Foods market. Mealhow first tried to get into Whole Foods by sending samples to eight of the company’s 11 regions. After that impersonal approach didn’t work, he called stores, ready to tell his story to anybody who picked up the phone. CORRIDOR NATIVE FALL 2018 7
Page 1 and 2: Homegrown Businesses in the Corrido
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS INNOVATIVE FAMILY Kinze Ma
Page 5: Shellsburg popcorn company explodes
Page 9 and 10: Venture and Equity Funds in Iowa (L
Page 11 and 12: BeraTek creates own products, molds
Page 13 and 14: Preventative Care and Asset Preserv
Page 15 and 16: “Kinze’s goal is to have the mo
Page 17 and 18: CORRIDOR NATIVE FALL 2018 17
Page 19 and 20: PAGE 18: The workbench from Jon Kin
Page 21 and 22: Tallis Strub (left) and Kaitlin Bye
Page 23 and 24: Kaitlin Byers and Tallis Strub are
Page 25 and 26: It’s much easier to keep an exist
Page 27 and 28: PAGE 24: Chris Harmsen explains a w
Page 29 and 30: Veronica Tessler, Owner, Yotopia Fr
Page 31 and 32: MANUFACTURING IN IOWA Employs 13.3%

Corridor Native Fall 2018

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