Career-changing virus: Flying Sweet, a hundred-thousand-baht brownie for a Thai Airways captain

Turning a crisis into an opportunity is probably the right motto for the current situation, to encourage everyone to get back on their feet again. Captain Decha - Dechaphon Poolphan transformed himself from a captain of a national airline to create a brownie brand and is one of the people who can be said to have successfully turned this Covid crisis into an opportunity with Flying Sweet, a brownie brand That is trending There are orders for half a month and sales of hundreds of thousands of baht per month. It is interesting how Captain got up and started making brownies and the sales kept soaring. He hopes to inspire people who are facing a crisis and are thinking about starting a career at this time.

Starting the path to the hundred-thousand-baht brownie A small piece of cake that wants to deliver good feelings and create a good atmosphere at work is what Captain Decha always does when it's time to fly. As time goes by, Captain Decha wants to make it more special, so he started baking with his own hands. Even though he had never baked before, with true determination, in the middle of last year, he invested in a baking course. He emphasized that he started from zero. "I felt that I wanted to give something from what I really did myself, so I thought baking would be better. But I had no background at all, so I searched on the internet and signed up for baking. I went on a free day from flying. It was a bit strange because everyone in the class was women, but we were determined. I learned how to make brownies for 3 hours, and also learned how to make cookies and mooncakes. But in the end, I decided to make brownies." The reason Captain Decha chose brownies is one - because they are snacks that he likes to eat anyway. And two - they fit the criteria of being easy to carry. After that, he started buying equipment to make homemade ones at his condo. He gradually developed his skills, plus he studied more from the internet. When he had it in his hands, he started to adjust the recipe to be his own.

During the New Year period, Captain Decha said that he started to get more serious about brownies. At that time, he didn’t think about selling them, but focused on giving them away to relatives and close acquaintances. “We didn’t have to buy gift baskets anymore, so we made brownies to give away. At first, I wanted people around me to try them. I had friends from many places, friends from work, friends from the Kasetsart Demonstration School Alumni Association, and many groups of golfers. We tried to give them some to try. Many people liked them and spread the word by word of mouth that they were delicious, which made us happy and proud.” “I’ve always thought that if I had a side job, it would be great. I thought about trying selling brownies, and then someone asked to buy them because they liked the taste. So I tried selling them because I didn’t have to invest much. If I made them and no one bought them, I would just give them away as usual. Luckily, it started with the intention of not selling them. At first, when I could sell them, I felt that I had already made a profit.”

In January, Captain began to seriously study the possibility of making brownies as a side job. He came up with a brand name that reflected his identity as a pilot and sweets, which led to the name Flying Sweet. He also looked at sales channels, focusing on online and customer groups. “At that time, I was still flying, but there were signs that I wouldn’t be able to fly much longer, so I started selling brownies seriously. The last flight was March 19. From that day until today, I’ve been making brownies every day,” said Captain Decha, another person affected by the COVID-19 outbreak when airlines had to stop flying. This reduced his income, but it was just right for Flying Sweet to take off.

Even though it is a part-time job, there must be a system. Every day, Captain Decha wakes up early. Then at 6-7 am, he starts making desserts. Every dessert is homemade and he takes care of it all by himself. At 8:30 am, a personal messenger will come to pick up the desserts to deliver. Every day, there are about 10-20 places. At the same time, Captain Decha's wife, daughter, and housekeeper will help pack the desserts into boxes and send them by post all over the country from the North to the South. In the afternoon, Captain Decha will sit down to make an appointment with a customer and plan the delivery route for the next day. In order to choose a route that is worthwhile for delivery, he does not want the brownies to take too long to travel. In the evening, he will take the desserts out of the refrigerator, cut them, and pack them. Then he continues making the brownies until about midnight. "It took a long time to come up with this system. At first, I made 10 trays, which was a lot because I delivered them myself. There were not many customers yet. I could go. But later, I could not deliver them myself because I used that time. I was more productive. So I had to hire a personal messenger. On Saturdays and Sundays, I went back home to Ram Intra. I still delivered some myself. Because I get to meet customers, ask questions, get feedback, and have direct contact with customers. If it’s close to home or on a convenient day, I’ll deliver it myself. We have to meet customers sometimes.”

A side job with a monthly sales of 100,000 baht. Flying Sweets' brownies are created from the concept of rich, slightly sweet brownies. "The rich flavor means I put in a lot of rich ingredients and use good ingredients. As for the slightly sweet, these days people don't eat much sweets because it's a health trend. People who eat my desserts often ask if this rich flavor is a loss. I don't make much profit because I think I want people to eat delicious flavors." Flying Sweets offers 4 flavors of brownies: Nutella Brownie, Creamcheese Brownie, the original flavor that I learned from the beginning, and further developed Macadamia Brownie and Matcha White Brownie. In addition, a new flavor, Espresso Brownie, is about to be released. At the same time, it is also offered as a set menu: the Multi-Hearts Brownie Set, which has 6 pieces in one box, mixed flavors, and the Mixed Set, which has 9 pieces in one box, mixed flavors, so that customers can choose conveniently, taste a variety of flavors, and easily remember them. "These days, I still develop my desserts every day because I make them myself. So I know what the weaknesses of each topping are. I always try to fix them. My desserts will get better every day because I know what I want to improve." That's how Captain Decha explains the unique characteristics. And it has created a difference that is popular and can generate sales during COVID-19 of more than a hundred thousand baht per month and there are advance orders for more than half a month, which when the MHA team tried to order, we had to wait for more than 1 week.

Ghost Kitchen and online marketing 100% Flying Sweets is considered a Ghost Kitchen brand, meaning it has no physical store and sells only through online and delivery channels. “At that time (in March when we started selling seriously), everyone had to stay home and quarantine themselves. There was only online channels. The first one was the Line Official Account, about 60-70% because I was already using Line, so I could connect directly and answer customers directly. But if it was a personal Line, it didn’t seem like they were really serious about selling. There had to be a brand that had an identity. When answering customers, I wanted to use the shop’s Line to answer. There were also various functions for food sellers. It was quite convenient to post and broadcast.” In addition, an important turning point in promoting the shop online was when universities set up their university marketplace groups on Facebook. Captain Decha introduced his story and Flying Sweets, which gained widespread attention. This made people more familiar with the brand. There were people who called to order brownies and could barely answer the phone. People who had tried the brownies also commented to give encouragement.

Content Marketing And management makes customers come back to buy again. Captain Decha explained that “Mostly I take care of customers directly. Sometimes there are problems with EMS delivery that arrives late. Customers are worried that the dessert will spoil. I take care of everything myself. They are impressed. Some people send things and there are mistakes. I send them again. They share their impressions on their social media. This makes people know me more. At first, people who come to eat want to try Captain’s dessert. But later, there are people who have eaten and are addicted. About 30% come back for more.” In addition, every day before going to bed, Captain Decha will write a story post on Line and Facebook. He tries to post cute messages or other aspects about the brownies. He doesn’t just want to sell them. This is to make customers and the brand closer. They have a good friendship and feel like they are one family. This is another connection between Captain Decha and customers.

The next step of Flying Sweet If the aviation industry resumes flying, Captain Decha will have to return to his normal duty on Nok Lek. But of course, he already has a plan for the next step for Flying Sweet, such as, “I think that in the beginning, I won’t be flying much. On the days I fly, I have to make up for it. If I’m not there, the most I can do is for 2 days because right now, I probably won’t be gone for long. As for my family, everyone is helping each other. When the situation returns to normal, my daughter has to go to school, which helps me a lot these days. I can’t get this many orders by myself because I have good supporters and a team. Everyone is helping each other. As for the next step, I have to find more people to help. I’m looking for a way to expand. My dream is to have a shop so that I can meet and interact directly with customers.” The captain sends encouragement to everyone.

 From someone who never had his own brand, starting from scratch to making a dessert brand with hundreds of thousands in sales, the important thing that brought him to this point, Captain Decha said that planning is important. “At first, I didn’t do much, but I came up with a new plan to improve it. I studied and found information, looked at who we intended to sell to, what were the weaknesses of the desserts, and tried to improve all the time. Another thing is sincerity with customers. I intend to make the most delicious desserts and not take advantage of them. So when we put sincerity into it, the desserts will definitely come out well. And customers will know how sincere we are from the desserts we give them to eat.” While the COVID-19 crisis is improving in a good way, after this, many people who have been affected will have to start recovering themselves again. Captain Decha also offered encouragement to entrepreneurs and those who are looking for a way to start creating something for themselves. “Every profession has been affected. I was hit hard because I couldn’t fly. My income has decreased a lot. It was suffering. But the epidemic has come. One day it has to go. But we are still here. I want to encourage you that it will pass. For those who are thinking of doing something, sometimes you can’t think of what to do. We have to try to do it to find out what you like. One day we might find something we can do and like. It might be an additional income. At first, I didn’t know that I liked making desserts. But I went out and tried it. If I hadn’t signed up for the baking course that day, I might not have come to this day.” “Everyone can start something new that they’ve never done before. We just have to be determined and try. I tried and failed, but that also taught me new things. We need to have a growth mindset that we can develop ourselves. No matter what problems we encounter, we just have to find a way to solve them. It will pass. I’ve learned many things in this business that I’ve never done before. I tried Line OA and Facebook pages, even sending mail, and buying ingredients, meeting customers, which I’ve never done before. I just started. I got to know many people, which are all profits in life.”