AGRIBUSINESS : How a startup kicked off with popcorn business to raise money for cancer research.

AGRIBUSINESS : How a startup kicked off with popcorn business to raise money for cancer research. When Her Mother Was Diagnosed With Breast Cancer, She Started a Popcorn Company to Raise Money for Research.There was only so much waiting around Lauren Mariel could do after she received the devastating news that her mother had been diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. "Through the first two weeks of treatments, I'm sitting there and I'm like, 'What am I doing?'" she said of that time in 2013. "I know she appreciates it, but I'm doing nothing for my mom or women who every single day are diagnosed with breast cancer." AGRIBUSINESS : How a startup kicked off with popcorn business to raise money for cancer research. Mariel's solution? Start a business. At a young age, Mariel's mother taught her and her sisters how to make popcorn, which quickly became a family favorite. Mariel figured that'd she'd just make some popcorn, slap a label on a bag and raise some money for cancer research and other causes. But this modest endeavor took off, and now Mariel's popcorn brand Live Love Pop can be found in more than 10,000 U.S. and Canada stores, with sales doubling year over year, she said. A portion of sales from each of Live Love Pop's six flavors are donated to different causes.