An explosion is under way in the popcorn business: the all-American snack has become Britain’s fastest-growing grocery product.

While sales of crisps have declined for the third year running, popcorn sales – driven by new gourmet flavours including goat’s cheese, teriyaki, and gin and tonic – are surging, doubling in value since 2013.

With sales up more than 10% this year, to £152m, the UK’s snack fans now munch twice as much popcorn as any other European nation. Only Americans eat more.

Market research experts put popcorn’s popularity down to perceived health benefits compared with traditional potato crisps.

“British consumers are moving away from traditional snacks because of increasing health concerns,” said Mike Kruiniger, an analyst at Euromonitor, the research firm behind the new data, because “it’s air-popped instead of fried”.

Joe & Seph’s popcorn: launched six years ago

Popcorn’s unlikely health halo – low in calories, high in fibre and gluten-free – is seen as key to its meteoric rise.

“It’s not like the old movie theatre popcorn – with those small pieces at the bottom that chip your teeth. Our stuff is all about natural ingredients,” says Adam Sopher, founder of Joe & Seph’s, a trendy new popcorn maker.

Inspired by his father (“most parents would cook their kids spaghetti bolognese, but my dad cooked us popcorn”), Sopher, 32, launched his brand six years ago with £20,000 of savings. The business is now turning over £5m a year and earlier this month went on sale nationwide in Waitrose.

“I never imagined it would grow like this,”, he says. “Popcorn barely existed as a category – now there are entire supermarket bays dedicated to it. I think it’s because consumers are much more interested in foodie stuff these days and wanting to try new things.”

Another brand driving the popcorn resurgence, Propercorn, made its first batch using a cement mixer and a spray-paint kit.

“I needed something to get the oil to stick,” says Cassandra Stavrou, the brand’s founder. “And the way you spray paint cars is the finest mist you can get. We’ve got a much bigger and shinier set-up now, but it’s the same principle.”

Stavrou’s passion for popcorn dates back to her teenage years when she received a popcorn maker as a gift.

“We were one of the first new breed of popcorn brands, taking it from the floor of the cinema into something that was the official snack of London fashion week,” Stavrou says.

Propercorn: ‘one of the first new breed of popcorn brands’, says founder Cassandra Stavrou. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Launched six years ago, Propercorn now sells more than 3m bags a month. It’s in all the usual high-end retailers, she says, but you can also buy it as part of a meal deal at Tesco.

It has also recently launched into the hyper-competitive kids’ snack market with colourful grab bags in flavours such as tomato ketchup.

Small wonder, then, that crisp makers are getting edgy, and no surprise they are looking for a piece of the action themselves. Walkers has launched Sensations popcorn in July this year, while Hula Hoops maker KP Snacks swooped on Butterkist.

The size of the popcorn market is still dwarfed by the £2bn Britons spend on crisps every year, despite the slowdown in sales. But there’s also no doubting that health-conscious Brits are looking around for alternative fat-free snacks, and popcorn is on the rise.

Emma Clifford, a food analyst with Mintel, says it’s a snack that’s “winning on all fronts”.

“It’s got that holy grail of healthiness but also tasting good,” she says. “It’s showing no sign of slowing down.”