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who invented microwave popcorn

The person most often credited with “inventing” microwave popcorn is Percy Spencer , the engineer who first popped popcorn with microwaves in the 1940s, but modern, bagged microwave popcorn as a supermarket product was later pioneered and commercialized by Jim Watkins and Golden Valley Microwave Foods in the late 1970s–1980s.

Quick Scoop

  • Percy Spencer accidentally discovered that microwaves could pop popcorn while working with a magnetron at Raytheon around 1945–1946, making the first known microwaved popcorn.
  • Jim Watkins sold early microwave popcorn in 1971 and later pioneered commercial microwave popcorn at Golden Valley Foods, which became a leading microwave popcorn company.
  • Golden Valley Microwave Foods launched Act I refrigerated microwave popcorn in 1981 and Act II shelf‑stable bag popcorn in 1984, which is what most people now think of as regular microwave popcorn.

How It Started: Lab Accident to Popcorn

  • In 1945, Percy Spencer noticed a candy bar melting in his pocket near an active magnetron, then deliberately placed popcorn kernels next to it and watched them pop, creating the first microwave‑popped popcorn.
  • Spencer’s experiments led to the first commercial microwave oven, the Radarange, introduced by Raytheon in the late 1940s, which made the idea of microwave‑cooked foods—including popcorn—technically possible.

From Idea to Grocery Aisle

  • Jim Watkins sold his first bag of microwave popcorn in 1971 and later built Golden Valley Foods, which grew into the world’s largest microwave popcorn company.
  • Golden Valley Microwave Foods introduced Act I microwave popcorn in 1981 (refrigerated because it used real butter), then in 1984 created a new bag design and shelf‑stable recipe launched as Act II , the first widely pantry‑stable microwave popcorn.

So Who “Invented” Microwave Popcorn?

  • If the question is about who first popped popcorn with microwaves , that credit goes to Percy Spencer , whose magnetron experiments made the first microwaved popcorn possible.
  • If the question is about the familiar retail microwave popcorn bags people buy today , the key figures and brands are Jim Watkins and Golden Valley Microwave Foods (Act I / Act II), who turned the concept into a mass‑market pantry product in the early 1980s.

TL;DR:

  • First to pop popcorn with microwaves: Percy Spencer in the mid‑1940s.
  • First to make modern, bagged microwave popcorn a big commercial product: Jim Watkins and Golden Valley Microwave Foods (Act I in 1981, Act II in 1984).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.