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Author Topic: plastic popcorn tubs? Tim Massett Film Handler Posts: 26 From: duluth, mn Registered: Dec 2005 posted 07-20-2009 03:18 PM                     hello, in an effort to be a bit more green i am considering reusable popcorn tubs. i came across these and was wondering if any of you have ever used these, if so, how long do they last? cheers! tim plastic poporn tub  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-20-2009 03:21 PM                        Are you considering having people bring theirs in for refilling? Or reusing ones you sell?  |  IP: Logged Tim Massett Film Handler Posts: 26 From: duluth, mn Registered: Dec 2005 posted 07-20-2009 03:28 PM                     Nope. I am considering purchasing about 150 of each size and using these instead of the paper tubs. On the first floor of this building there is a full on restaurant and the fella running that business doesn't mind having his dishwasher clean it up for us.  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 07-20-2009 03:57 PM                     I don't think it is a good idea. Unless you put a deposit on them, you will have a lot of shrinkage when customers sneak them home. If you do put a deposit on them, it will become a nightmare when the show exits. Further, I would never buy any theatre food item in a non disposable container unless I could inspect it before it is filled. You are not a restaurant, you are a movie theatre. Customer expectations are different. You also could have health department issues as you do not have your own cleaning equipment.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 07-20-2009 04:10 PM                        quote: Tim Massett the fella running that business doesn't mind having his dishwasher clean it up for us So you're gonna bring him dozens, maybe hundreds, of dirty popcorn tubs a day, and he's going to hand-wash them for you for free and guaranty they're sanitized etc? I wonder how long that will last. I'm assuming it's a hand-wash task since that would have to be one hell of a large automatic dishwasher to clean a lot of these tubs at one time. This sounds like a terrible idea to me. Sorry. Come up with some way to ensure used paper tubs are properly recycled and promote that and you will have done your green thing.  |  IP: Logged Tim Massett Film Handler Posts: 26 From: duluth, mn Registered: Dec 2005 posted 07-20-2009 04:11 PM                     Thanks for that input. While the company owns the restaurant and the theater the health department may look at these as two separate entities. Paper tubs it is..  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-20-2009 06:54 PM                        I like the general idea, but I don't think it's practical. You would need to have a significant number of buckets on hand to ensure you had enough for your busiest rush. And then you would need to make sure you had enough to cover a second rush since it's unlikely you would have enough time to wash the buckets in between shows. You would also incur extra labor costs to collect, transport, and clean the buckets. As far as the actual cost, we pay about 13¢ for a large popcorn bag. At that price you would have to reuse the bucket nearly 50 times to pay for it. Can you be sure you would get 50 uses out of a bucket before it cracked, was swiped, or otherwise became unusable.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-20-2009 06:56 PM                        I get the feeling that these buckets are the same type of plastic used in the promotional buckets. If that's the case (they aren't "hard" plastic but that more flexible type) then I wouldn't recommend reusing them. They may not be "dishwasher safe" and if your patrons find out you're reusing, they will think you're cheap or gross, or possibly both.  |  IP: Logged Tim Massett Film Handler Posts: 26 From: duluth, mn Registered: Dec 2005 posted 07-20-2009 08:09 PM                     Thanks for the input everyone. I have shelved this cockamamie notion and will embrace the paper tub. cheers! tim  |  IP: Logged Justin Hamaker Film God Posts: 2253 From: Lakeport, CA USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 07-21-2009 06:50 PM                        Tim, if going/being more green is a serious consideration for you, ask your vendors about green products. I believe Packaging Concepts offers a line of popcorn bags that uses an unbleached (natural) paper for the lining on their bags, rather than the waxed paper used now. One thing we did about a year ago is switch the the Tork Napkin Express napkins. They have special dispensers which prevent people from pulling more than one napkin at a time. This has cut down on the number of napkins we are going through, as well as the number of unused napkins we find left behind on the floors. If you want to go with the reusable containers, you might look into the possibility of selling a bucket the customer pays to have refilled when they bring back their washed container. This is something you would need to discuss with your local health department to see if there are any issues that would get in the way. But I don't see how it would be that different from places that allow customers to refill their own cups.  |  IP: Logged Bill Enos Film God Posts: 2081 From: Richmond, Virginia, USA Registered: Apr 2000 posted 07-23-2009 10:13 AM                     The health dept. officials here consider a container that may have been washed off premises to be unwashed and it cannot be used to scoop popcorn or ice and may not come into contact with food. You'll have to refill with a scoop.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 07-23-2009 10:41 AM                     The city of toronto in their ongoing green policy (one must pay 5c for a shopping bag) is planning to require that all coffee shops and snack bars (theatres included) must accept customer brought in reusable containers and charge extra for any disposable ones they haven't worked out the details yet  |  IP: Logged Scott D. Neff Theatre Dork Posts: 919 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 07-23-2009 11:11 AM                        Though I've never been, I was told (at least 10 years ago) that the Red Vic in San Francisco would serve popcorn in little wooden bowls similar to those you'd eat pretzels out of at a bar. Again, this may have changed in the time since I was told but I'd rather eat out of plastic than wooden bowls any day of the week, especially in the Upper Haight-Ashbury district.  |  IP: Logged Sam Graham AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues. Posts: 1431 From: Waukee, IA Registered: Dec 2004 posted 07-23-2009 02:30 PM                        One of the local Carmikes has a Tuesday promotion where you bring your own container and they'll fill it with popcorn for some silly little price. I bet that staff would have some interesting stories about different containers brought in.  |  IP: Logged Scott D. Neff Theatre Dork Posts: 919 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Oct 1999 posted 07-23-2009 03:39 PM                        And all the money they've stolen pocketing the cash.  |  IP: Logged

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