Career change can happen at any time in life. Toshio Hito, 51 years old, is proof of that. After a career in publicity, he gave up agencies and went into the food business.
With his wife, the man runs a franchise of colored popcorn in Marília, in the interior of São Paulo, which earns R$ 1.7 million annually. And it all started on the other side of the world, in the Japan. Understand this inspiring story!
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Toshio, from an early age, dreamed of being a publicist. In 1990, he kicked off that dream and started working at a small advertising agency in Marília.
There, he was a draftsman and final artist. Even though he didn't have a college degree – because he couldn't pass the entrance exam at the time – he climbed positions in the advertising market and became art and creation director.
But he saw that this was not the path that would make him happy and that he did not feel fulfilled. “I didn't earn much and I felt that, even though I tried so hard, the dream I had since childhood of doing outstanding campaigns in large agencies would not come true”, said Toshio to UOL.
Seven years after starting his advertising career, he decided to drop everything and move to Japan. There, he did a bit of everything: he worked in electronic component factories, cleaning fish and also collecting recycled materials.
It was hard work, but the money paid off. In just three years, he managed to raise enough money to build a brick house for his parents.
A few years later, he met Suzana, his current wife, while they were both working in different factories in a Kyoto prefecture. Five years later, they returned to Brazil to get married and then return to Japan, but a family problem made them stay for good.
So they started selling popcorn. “It was a necessity to generate income to keep us in Brazil, with a low-value investment,” he said. “We also realized the opportunity that existed in this segment of snacks, with a popular product, but that totally lacked innovation”.
With an investment of BRL 5,000, the couple put Pop’s Fantasy on the streets of Marília. At the time, the business was a popcorn cart that circulated around the city.
But this was no ordinary popcorn; they had that missing innovation: some popcorn had crunchy cheese, striking and different colors and packaging, and aromas that called attention. “The idea is that the bag of popcorn looks like a gift”, explained Hiro to UOL.
In addition, they invested in a differential that always works: they paid special attention to the customer and not to his money. Toshio wrote down customers' names, favorite flavors, and even the name of their pet. Thus, it created loyalty.
The company experienced a serious difficulty in 2008 and almost went to bankruptcy. Toshio and Suzana wanted to take the company a step further and decided to open a physical location for Pop’s Fantasy.
However, the location was not the most suitable. According to Hito, it was a street with a lot of traffic, but few pedestrians. With that, they acquired a debt of R$ 70 thousand.
What saved them was a business incubator in Marília. There, Hito and Suzana had consulting services, but they also made popcorn and stored some utensils. In three years, they started again.
From then on, they invested in participating in events and, in 2012, they stabilized with more news on the market: Belgian chocolate popcorn, Neapolitan, fruit aromas and also incorporated cotton candy savored in the menu.
Today, the company is stable with its colorful delicacies, sold wholesale and retail, for prices ranging from R$9.90 to R$12.90. In 2022, Pop's Fantasy's annual revenue was BRL 1.7 million.
Pop’s has nine employees, including four Venezuelan immigrants. Toshio sees it as a way of reciprocating the welcome and opportunities they had in Japan in the early 2000s.
“Venezuelans look here for what the Brazilian dekasseguis and we ourselves look for in Japan when we need it”, he pointed out.
*with information from UOL
