Gipson spotlights Crop to Pop; Looneys pitch MS-grown popcorn

Rhonda (left) and Mark Looney walk Mississippi Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson (right) through operations at Crop to Pop inside the former Tribbett store, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025.

After a lunch stop at Fratesi’s in Leland with local producers, Mississippi Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson visited Crop to Pop at the invitation of Rhonda Looney, a longtime Leland resident who, with her husband Mark, raises, cleans and packages their line of Mississippi-grown popcorn on the family’s farm in neighboring Tribbett.

Inside the former Tribbett store—now Crop to Pop’s manufacturing building—the Looneys walked Gipson through each step of production: double-cleaning the kernels, bagging, weighing and hand-stamping the two-pound bags. The tour ended at the stove, where the commissioner stirred a half-cup test batch, “churning” the pot like butter before the group shared a bowl.

Crop to Pop began in 2016 as the idea of the Looneys’ son, John Mark Looney Jr., who researched varieties, developed the packaging and mapped a marketing plan. When he later changed direction from farming and the business, Rhonda and Mark purchased Crop to Pop and kept it operating. “He worked so hard to get it to the success it was that I could not just let it fold,” Rhonda Looney said.

Rhonda asked the commissioner to help get Mississippi-grown popcorn served on school field trips and stocked for retail at the state agriculture museum in Jackson, in addition to the Genuine Mississippi store at the Mississippi Farmers Market on High Street. Spotlighting in-state growers is part of the commissioner’s role; the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce leads market-development efforts and the Genuine Mississippi branding program.

Today the Looneys plant about 20 acres of popcorn within a roughly 2,600- to 2,700-acre operation and sell two-pound bags (12 per case) wholesale and direct; Crop to Pop is currently carried in about 10 states. The Looneys say Crop to Pop is the only Mississippi-grown popcorn produced and packaged in-state.

Gipson called popcorn a “natural health food.” Rhonda highlighted the snack’s fiber content and gluten-free appeal as a simple, local option.

“It’s a great healthy snack — good fiber and gluten-free. It helps curb your appetite,” Looney said.

As the old Progress line goes: A good time was had by all.