March 20, 2017

Meet Kevin Peak of CaJa Popcorn in Buckhead

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Peak.

Kevin, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I worked in the corporate world for over twenty years and traveled a lot. Once I had children I decided that wasn’t the lifestyle I wanted so I started of thinking of ideas to start a business. I’d seen different popcorn concepts during my travels but they were either highly caloric or a bunch of different flavors that weren’t made fresh each day, so I worked with Todd Ginsberg (then at Bocado) and he helped me create our signature flavors (Sea Salt Caramel, Pimento Cheese, and Spicy BBQ). In addition to my goal of creating interesting flavors as healthily as possible, fresh each day, I also wanted my store to have a community feel so I named it after the two most important people in my personal community — Caroline and Jack, my children.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Any small business owner who tells you it’s been a smooth road is either fooling you or has a short-term memory! Creating brand awareness inexpensively is always a challenge, and learning to say no to people asking for money (either in donations or in the products they think you need) has definitely been a challenge. We also get a lot of suggestions from customers so it’s been important to decide which of them are good ideas and which ones would steer us away from who we want to be as a business.

CaJa Popcorn – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The most important aspect of our business has always been making delicious popcorn fresh every day, and delivering it with a customer service model that is both professional and also welcoming. With that as our baseline, we’ve really become known for our flexibility in our packaging options, everything from offering bulk pricing for clients who have their own packaging to creating custom labels and using custom packaging for individuals and companies. We work with customers and event planners looking for party favors for birthday parties and weddings, caterers who need great flavors for their clients, companies looking to delight their clients and/or employees with a gift of popcorn, and we also wholesale our popcorn locally as well as regionally.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is having customers tell me how much they appreciate our products and the service that we provide to them because that means they will return in the future and tell others about their experience, and it also means that I am treating my employees well because otherwise they would not offer the service levels that I expect.

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