The Story Behind the Story with Mike Rowe
The 100 Billion Dollar Bar
S3 • E4 Jul 18, 2023 22m
We meet Percy, a Raytheon supervisor in an engineering laboratory, trying to decide what type of snack to purchase on his way to work. Eventually deciding he wrapped the morsel in a paper napkin and put it in his pocket. Later that afternoon he reached into his pocket for his tasty pick-me-up only to find melted chocolatey goo. Percy was determined to resolve this issue and set off inventing an enormous 750 pound piece of equipment, which cost $52,000 and made popcorn. But, within a year Percy had the weight and size, but more importantly, the cost way down. And his invention would sell 30,000,000 units a year and generate over $100,000,000,000 in sales. We owe Percy a vote of gratitude for changing the way we cook. Or maybe just reheat.