“You would think it’s not a good idea to Tom Yam Goong with seaweed, but we did it and they go really well. “You have to taste them to know,” says Tob. Fancy a whiff of Pad Thai when you rip open a packet of that treat? Or, ingredients for Thai boat noodles or chicken with basil in the blend? These flavours are part of its new Street Food series, launched in Thailand in May. TKN’s strength lies in coming up with really “difficult” flavours and blending them with seaweed, which has its own taste. Research and development are crucial as well, he adds, because good products lead to good branding. In our organisation, we do it as a habit, in a very disciplined way.” “Brand-building is one of the things we do every day. It also pays to be clear about the organisation’s strength and build on that. “We know what we want to serve our customers.” He puts it simply: Know why you are here, what you are trying to deliver and to whom. Ultimately, it is the product that counts and companies that are certain of what they are, what they are doing and their markets have the upper hand. But, last year, we were able to make a profit and grow again.” “Over the past three years, we have suffered from the Covid pandemic too. “We invest a lot of resources in our strategy, so our personnel are clear about what we’re doing.
#Tao kae noi seaweed boss how to
While sales and profit are the engine that drives a company, it needs employees who can see the results it targets and how to reach the desired bottom line, Tob believes. “Because we are competing not just with seaweed but other snacks, marketing has to work really hard to try to attract attention for our brand,” he elaborates. In his business, capturing customer eyeballs and making them aware of what he puts out on the shelves is crucial. Seaweed is gaining attention for its health benefits If we can hit one out of 10, that’s enough.” “We innovate all the time and launch about new 10 flavours every year. But if you fall, get up and don’t give up,” says Tob, who equates TKN’s constant innovation to risk-taking. “What I’ve learnt in business comes mostly from the mistakes my family made: You can take risks.
He decided on that name for his venture and began coming up with different flavours for his seaweed. When Tob told his father he wanted to set up a business, the latter quipped that he would become a taokaenoi. But it’s very important that whatever you do in business or sport, if you’re confident you are going to be successful, you’re halfway there,” he says.ĭaring is a force that seems to guide Taokaenoi, or “little boss” in Thai. It’s not that I thought I would be able to cover all my family’s debt.
When he was about 16, Tob did a little game trade that earned him a tidy sum. “I wasn’t 100% sure I would make it, but I was confident I would succeed somehow,” Tob, with help from a translator, told Malaysian media in Bangkok for a global fun fair to mark TKN’s 20th anniversary recently.
Tob, who had to drop out of college, became a vendor selling roasted chestnuts before switching to seaweed, which he loves eating. Things were bleak when his wealthy family became bankrupt as a result of the Asian financial crisis. Courage, confidence, acumen and probably street smarts helped him grow it into an enterprise that dominates the Thai domestic market, with operations in Australia, Canada, the US and UK, and plans to penetrate into Europe. Circumstances threw him into the business when he was 18. Tob is founder and CEO of TaoKaeNoi Food & Marketing (TKN), the manufacturer and distributor of processed seaweed. Have a chat with him and you will find that financial figures take a backseat to what he has learnt along the ride to the top. Talk about an old head on young shoulders: Itthipat “Tob” Peeradechapan, 38, has spent more than half his life building up a family business that in 2018 placed him on Forbes’ Thailand’s 50 Richest list, with a net worth of US$600 million.
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