. He loved the pace, even waking up in the middle of the night to trade in the Tokyo and London stock markets.
The business, which sells a variety of popcorns and air-popped Cheetos-like puffs and curls, has been profitable since 2021, according to company estimates. It made $14.4 million last year in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA. In 2012, he got his MBA degree and started his new full-time job as LesserEvil's CEO. Among his first moves: hiring his graduate school friend Andrew Strife as COO and CFO, and his wakeboard instructor as head of marketing.
That year, Coristine's personal nutritionist offered a health-focused suggestion: Use coconut oil to pop the popcorn. Coristine was skeptical that coconut oil would stay fresh in a snack bag, so he literally shelf-tested it, he says:"We put it on the top of a fridge, which gets really hot for three months."
The company still brought in $62 million in net sales during the first half of 2024. It used another round of funding — $19 million, in a round led by investment firm Aria Growth Partners, LesserEvil says — to buy out prior investors and open a new factory in New Milford, roughly 15 miles from its Danbury facility.