09/19/2025
The last bags of Pop Karma have been sold, and I am left with both immense gratitude and a sense of loss for the wonderful community that formed around it.
Pop Karma began when our Kickstarter friends helped fund our first shop on the Lower East Side of New York City. From there, we grew into an amazing community of customers, employees, growers, mentors, and vendors. Together, we showed that there is a real desire for delicious snacks made simply from pure, high-quality ingredients—and it was our joy to make them for you.
While the demand is there, the supply chain became increasingly difficult for small producers like us. When our third manufacturer in three years exited the business, I didn’t have the heart to start the process of qualifying yet another.
Nevertheless, it’s been an incredible ride. Over the past 12 years, I opened two retail locations, learned how to use (and maintain) a commercial popper that famously broke down just as orders poured in after a Good Morning America feature, created and scaled recipes, established a brand and packaging, ran both online and retail stores, built countless supplier relationships, sold to retail partners, negotiated with distributors, launched media and marketing campaigns, lobbied Congress to support organic foods, integrated sustainability into every part of the business, built spreadsheets and pallets, cursed some and celebrated a lot. Through it all, the inspiration never wavered: the best part of Pop Karma was always being a happy part of people’s days, whether at weddings, in cubicles, at film festivals, or as gifts, we loved showing up for you.
Thank you for sharing in Pop Karma’s journey. Every day brought something memorable, and it was only possible because of an incredible army of people: my husband Mark Rosenblatt, my parents Susan & Edward Tsai, our Kickstarter supporters (including Paul Chan, who even helped paint the first shop), Chef Stephen Lemagnen, Steve Jaffe, Betty Wall, Peter Chase and Chris Clary, who created our distinctive branding and offered endless advice, mentor Mike Pearson, our wonderful employees including the first Pop Karma team—Luis Juarez, Arielle Rodriguez, Emily Cravalho and Murtada ElFadl, Augusto Lopez who shot our first video, Tim Caldwell who patiently kept our equipment running, JP Williams who designed our Fulton Center location, our friends at Time Warner Business who featured us in their campaign, David Tuckman, Allie Ball Ready who gave me the confidence to sell, the Tory Burch Foundation, the Good Food Accelerator and our fabulous cohort, the Hatchery, Goldman Sach’s 10000 Small Businesses, our retail partners, Glen Kohn, Amanda Puck at Mariano’s who championed local foods, and our very first customer John Johnson, who kept trying to place an order before our doors were open. Most of all, thank you to our many loyal customers who shared stories, kind words, and laughs over the years. I'll miss you all, though you are all etched in my memory.
We’ve all generated enough good karma to last a lifetime.
