Orville Redenbacher' Commercial 2000

 The man that The New York Times described as "but for all his bumpkin appearance, the man with the signature white wavy hair and oversized bow tie was a shrewd agricultural scientist who experimented with hybrids" began his career selling fertilizer, but spent his spare time working with popcorn.

In 1951, he and partner Charlie Bowman bought the George F. Chester and Son seed corn plant in Boone Grove, Indiana. Naming the company "Chester Hybrids", they tried tens of thousands of hybrid strains of popcorn before settling on a hybrid they named "RedBow".

An advertising agency advised them to use Orville Redenbacher's own name as the brand name. They launched their popping corn in 1970.

In 1976, Redenbacher sold the company to Hunt-Wesson Foods, a division of Norton Simon, Inc. In 1983, Esmark purchased Norton Simon, which in turn was acquired by Beatrice Foods in 1984. In 1985, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired Beatrice with the goal of selling off businesses. In 1990, they sold the popcorn business and other old Hunt-Wesson businesses to agribusiness giant ConAgra.