Pumpkin spice popcorn is back for fall at Prospector Popcorn, and every bag helps employ people with disabilities. The Connecticut non-profit tops its classic caramel corn with a hand-mixed blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves and a white chocolate drizzle, $8 for a 3.5-ounce bag.
Caramel, Warm Spice, and a White Chocolate Drizzle
Pumpkin Spice is Prospector’s annual fall flavor, a seasonal spin on its Classic Caramel popcorn, which is made with real butter and brown sugar. For fall, that caramel corn gets a hand-mixed coating of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, then a white chocolate drizzle over the top, so each piece carries both the buttery caramel and the warm spice in one bite. The brand describes the result as “like a hug from Fall.” It comes in a 3.5-ounce resealable bag for $8, made fresh daily with non-GMO kernels and a 12-month shelf life, and the company has made gourmet popcorn with scratch-made caramel for more than a decade. One note for anyone with allergies: it is handcrafted in a kitchen that shares space with food allergens, and the white chocolate drizzle contains dairy.
The Sweet Mission
What sets this bag apart from any other pumpkin spice snack is who makes it. Prospector Popcorn is a 501(c)(3) non-profit in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and its whole reason for existing is to employ people with disabilities. It grew out of The Prospector Theater, a non-profit first-run movie theater that opened in 2014, and 75% of its staff, whom it calls “Prospects,” self-identify with a disability. The organization describes its mission as “improving the quality of life for people with disabilities through meaningful employment.” The theater and the popcorn kitchen run on the same idea: Prospector calls a person’s passion their “sparkle” and tries to match it to a job. Its Prospects run the operation, from the theater’s box office to the popcorn kitchen, and the crew has a name for the extra-mile service it aims for, which it calls “pink glove service.” The online popcorn business carries that mission beyond the theater’s walls, turning a bag of caramel corn into a paycheck. The bags say the point plainly: every one creates jobs for people with disabilities.
Where to Get It
Prospector Popcorn’s Pumpkin Spice is sold online at prospectorpopcorn.org, and the brand says its popcorn also turns up in major hotel and grocery chains and at sports venues, including this year’s US Open. At $8 a bag, it is an easy fall snack to grab, or to send to the pumpkin spice fan in your life, and the money supports the non-profit’s work employing people with disabilities. The pumpkin spice is a seasonal flavor, so it is a fall-window pickup rather than a year-round staple. The brand’s Classic Caramel and other varieties stick around the rest of the year.
More Fall 2026 Food
For more of this year’s seasonal snacks and drinks, see HAN’s fall food and drinks guide.
