Meat logs and cheese baskets are popular gifts around the holidays, but have you considered how many other people buy the same type of gift? If you’ve been buying meat-and-cheese based holiday gift baskets for years, it’s time to try something new. Your friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family members may tell you they love your gift baskets, but could be secretly giving them away.

Gourmet popcorn, on the other hand, is one gift that doesn’t get given as often as it should. Here’s why gourmet popcorn should be on the top of your gift-giving list.

1. People are tired of traditional holiday baskets

Most people are polite and won’t tell you they’re tired of getting the same gift basket from you every year. You might have friends who really love their baskets, but if you don’t see their eyes light up when the wrapping paper comes off, they’re probably bored.

While gourmet popcorn is a holiday tradition for some, it hasn’t become the standard holiday gift. However, that will change as soon as enough people realize what they’re missing. For instance, gourmet popcorn flavors extend beyond what you’d expect to find. Sure, you can get caramel, jalapeño, garlic, and cheese flavors, but you can also get orange, strawberries & cream, lemonade, birthday cake, pizza, and toasted marshmallow flavored popcorn.

You’ll never find birthday cake flavored meat logs or cheese bricks. Well, you might, but if you do, you probably shouldn’t eat them. Popcorn is the better gift.

2. Popcorn satisfies the need for crunchy and salty snacks

Meat logs and cheese are both salty, but they’re not crunchy. Around the holidays, almost every type of food served for dinner and dessert is soft. 

Research studies have shown that salty, crunchy snacks provide an immense source of satisfaction. Salt aside, crunchy foods are more satisfying because we like to hear the crunch. Without the audible crunch, we don’t perceive the food as tasty. 

In a famous experiment conducted with Pringles, researchers asked participants to bite into 180 individual Pringle chips. Each participant was seated in a soundproof booth in front of a microphone with a headset that fed them the sound of the chips being crunched. 

As participants crunched on their chips, researchers played with the volume level so they heard the sound of the chip crunch at varying levels throughout the experiment. Researchers found that a participant’s perception of freshness was directly proportional to the volume level, proving that people have a tendency to enjoy crunchy foods more than silent foods.

3. Popcorn is a low-fat snack

When you give gourmet popcorn as a gift, you’re probably creating a new addiction for your gift recipient. There’s something about trying a new popcorn flavor that makes people eat the whole bag. The good news is that it’s not like cheese or meat where you’ll feel some harsh consequences if you eat the whole gift basket. It’s probably better to save some popcorn for later, but if anyone eats the whole bag – provided it’s not a gigantic bag – they’ll be fine.

Popcorn is naturally low in fat, even when flavoring is added.

4. Gourmet popcorn might win over your European friends

In Europe, butter isn’t something that goes on popcorn. In fact, Europeans think Americans are strange for buttering their popcorn. They just don’t understand how tasty it is to have fresh, hot popcorn soaked in real butter. Or topped with any flavor for that matter.

With the right gourmet flavor, you might be able to win over some of your European friends. Give them some kettle corn and let them experience popcorn with baked-in flavor. You probably won’t be able to get them to soak their popcorn in butter, but you could open their mind just enough to get them to stop harping on you at the movie theater.

5. Gourmet popcorn is affordable

Have you seen the prices of some of those meat log gift baskets? You could pay nearly $100 for a gift basket that you don’t even know your friends and family really want. On the other hand, $100 worth of gourmet popcorn will go a long way. You could easily get several big bags of different flavors for the same price. Chances are, your gift recipients will be chowing down on your popcorn while they figure out what to do with all their meat logs.