Success story of Tob Itthipat, the founder of Tao Kae Noi

You might have heard of Tao Kae Noi or Tob, a seaweed snack that originated from none
other than Thailand. If you do not know about it, simply go to 7Eleven or any other
convenience stores in your area. It’s light, crispy, melts in your mouth, comes in a variety
of flavours and is the perfect snack for any occasion! But did you know that the founder
had to struggle through many ups and downs before his product reached the mass
popularity that we know of today? In this article, you’ll come to know that his success
story can be quite inspiring, especially if you are a young starting entrepreneur yourself.
Read on to learn more.

An Avid Gamer

At the age of 16, he was just an ordinary schoolboy, and like most schoolboys he was
addicted to online games, with Everquest as his favourite. He was doing so well in the
game that he became one of the best players in the area. Because of his gaming skills, he
was able to obtain many in-game items and treasures that were rare which enables a
character upgrade that other people find difficult to get. Soon after, game players from all
over the world, especially from the US, started to contact him to buy his rare items and
treasures. Because of this, he earned approximately USD10K monthly and he was living
the dream. But like all dreams, one must wake up in the end. At 17, he decided continued
his studies in the University of Chamber of Commerce of Thailand. And, in that same
year, his family business faced financial crisis and eventually declared bankruptcy,
ultimately owing a debt of up to 10 million US Dollars. Because of this, he decided to
quit school and help his family. He sold his game ID for a good amount of money and
started to think of what he could do with the money earned to be able to help his family
stay afloat.

His First Chestnut Business

At first, he tried to sell food and coffee in front of his campus, other ventures included
investing and selling cheap CD players. But despite all the efforts, his plan did not work
out and he continued losing a large amount of money. Even so, this did not deter him
from moving forward. One day, as he was exploring China Town in Bangkok, he noticed
that many people enjoyed eating sugar fried chestnut during mid-day and these treats, at
time were solely exclusive in that area alone. This inspired his first business idea by
selling sugar fried chestnut in major shopping malls. Within a year and half, he opened
over 30 chestnut stores in Thailand’s largest hypermarket TESCO and Carrefour – and
Tob was only just 18 years old then.

A New Packaging And New Beginning

However, when TESCO Lotus appointed a new CEO at the time, where over 25 of his
branches were located, the CEO did not allow him to sell his chestnut in TESCO Lotus
branches as the smoke from frying the chestnut carried all over the mall and dirtied the
store’s ceiling. So, he decided to cook the chestnut outside the mall and have them sent to
the stores. The sales of the chestnut dropped vastly by more than 50 per cent. In order to
make up for the sales, he then tried selling other food such as dried fruits and fried
seaweed. After a few months, he noticed the fried seaweed overtook the chestnut sales
and instantly became the best-selling product. Thus, began the start of his seaweed
empire just at the age of 19.
To produce more fried seaweed, he hired a small team of people to work at the kitchen in
his house. To be able to expand his fried seaweed, he decided to move his products into
7-Eleven. Initially, the 7-Eleven rejected his request due to the poor packaging details.

To solve this, he spent months modifying the package design and eventually convinced
the management of 7-Eleven to agree to selling his product with the newer design. The 7-
Eleven team also requested a visit to his factory to ensure the quality of the food and to
ensure his seaweed will be able to supply in 3000 outlets throughout Thailand. With just
six workers in his kitchen, there was no way he can achieve that. And so, he decided to
sell his chestnut business to fund the production line for his fried seaweed business and
hire more workers.

Not long after the factory visit, 7-Eleven first ordered 72,000 packs of fried seaweed
within 45 days. From there, his fried seaweed business boomed and two years later his
fried seaweed was exported to Singapore and Hong Kong.

At age 26, his products have expanded and is now available in over 19 countries
including US, UK, Canada and Australia. He had become Thailand’s youngest self-made
billionaire with net worth of THB 1 billion ($33 million).

His road to success did not come easy. He crossed his obstacles slowly without giving up.
And one of the most important things to have is the right mindset. To be like Tob, you
have to believe in yourself on what you want to do, and in time, success will come your
way.