Type of popcorn normally eaten at the cinema by country (according to Reddit posts)

31 comments

1. I couldn’t find a map showing different countries’ preference for sweet versus
   salty popcorn at a glance, so I made one for Europe.

   Because I couldn’t find any proper data sources, it’s based on anecdotal
   evidence from these Reddit posts:

   – https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/8bhexh/how_is_popcorn_preferred_in_your_country_sweet_or/
   – https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/ltw76r/sweet_or_salty_popcorn/
   – https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/ilq929/sweet_or_salty_popcorn_which_is_more_popular_in/
   – https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEurope/comments/gaa3c0/whats_the_default_popcorn_flavour_in_your_country/

   Let me know if I got any of them wrong or if you have information on one of the
   countries that haven’t been colored in yet!

   Some points of uncertainty:

   – Switzerland had one guy saying salty is unheard of and another saying the
   exact opposite, so I went with “Either”.
   – Northern Ireland had people implying sweet is vastly more popular than salty,
   but they might have been exaggerating for humorous effect:
   – https://www.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/532l7p/what_are_some_small_cultural_differences_between/
   – https://www.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/qhw4lz/roi_resident_here_what_would_you_say_are_the_main/

2. Can confirm, they’re always salty in Sweden.

   Sweet simply doesn’t exist here. Pretty sure most have never even heard of such abomination.

3. I had no idea sweet popcorn was even a thing.

4. I don’t know anyone in Greece who eats sweet pop corn

5. SWEET?!? THAT’S A THING?!?

6. I’m pretty surprised by the comments here but it’s clearly sweet for Russia. People just get a pack of chips if they want something salty. Salty popcorn exists but it’s not popular at all.

7. I always have sweet and salty at the same time

8. Is popcorn the one thing that still keeps Ireland divided?

9. Sweet? Sounds disgusting

10. The whole POINT of popcorn is to be so salty that movie theaters can earn big bucks selling larger sodas to compensate. How on EARTH can cinemas selling sweet popcorn earn any money???

11. Sweet popcorn is fucking putrid, tried it once because they started popping up here and there. Buttered/salty is where it’s at.

12. I didn’t know salty popcorn was a thing until I accidentally ate some at an American-themed restaurant with expensive drinks.

    Our equivalent is usually peanuts with an orange coloured salty coating, but apparently these aren’t a thing outside Belgium and the Netherlands?

13. Whats wrong with you people. I mean in germany we have Sweet and also salty popocorn. But salty sucks big time and i would go to war for this

14. salty popcorn is putrid

15. I just ask to mix them together.

16. Also ich esse immer gesalzenes Popcorn im Kino. Popcorn mit Zucker schmeckt gar nicht.

17. Salty… extra butter 🧈 baby 

18. I loved popcorn with cheese flavor.

19. i love europe

20. Wait, you guys don’t have *both* ?

21. I had sweet popcorn once in Disneyland… Ended up throwing about half of them away because they were just too sweet.

22. I grew up in Germany and it’s 99% sweet popcorn. Basically only perverts will order salty popcorn at cinemas.

    However, I recently tasted American butter popcorn and holy frick it blew me away. Barely any sugar, not too much salt, but still the BEST popcorn I’ve ever experienced.

    And now I’m in constant misery because I can’t seem to find it here without paying an insane premium price. Every store just has sweet and salty, the same boring, very very very bland flavours we’ve always had. Ugh… 🙁

23. I once accidentally got sweet popcorn in a German cinema… ew. It’s as absurd as putting Nutella on lángos.

24. I did an Erasmus in Spain, ordered popcorn, nearly gagged when there was suddenly something salty in my mouth, everyone laughed and thought I was crazy or joking.
    I would have needed that chart sooner.

25. We should nuke western Europe

26. I know popcorn mostly as a sweet, but I can understand the salty variety. What I don’t understand is the cyan-coloured Monster (like Red Bull) variety I once tried in Germany. That was more disgusting than surströmming

27. I have never had salty popcorn in Ukraine, only sweet

28. _Salty_ popcorn?! Wtf, I’ve never heard about that

29. Time for a new EU of proper salty popcorn lovers.

30. Hi, I would like a caloric bomb with my movie.

31. I didn’t even know sweet pop corn was a thing until I left Spain first time.