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Becky Smollett believes she has the best job in the world.
The Cambridge entrepreneur spends her days dreaming up ways to create and deliver healthy popcorn and kettle chips into the homes of people across Ontario through her company From Farm to Table located on Bishop Street North.
Her latest venture is a partnership with the Canadian National Exhibition that sees special branded bags of popcorn on the shelves of Sobeys, Foodland and a variety of other grocery stores.
In true entrepreneurial spirit, the idea came from the relentless pursuit of a simple idea.
Already having formed a partnership with the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Smollett was looking to expand even further.
"You're an entrepreneur and your mind is always going," Smollett said.
"After we had such a great partnership with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Tim Hortons Field, it gave us the confidence to get out there a little bit more and start to be a bit creative."
It was when she went to the CNE last year and had a great time that those creative wheels began to turn on her latest idea.
Like any good partnership, Smollett wanted to bring value to both her brand and the event.
"More people need to be reminded," she said of the CNE.
"When COVID happened, all of these things kind of shut down. I wanted to let people know that it's worth the effort to go into Toronto and take the whole family. It's fun and it's unique."
When she got back, she began sketching out ideas about how the partnership could work. She even connected with an illustrator to help create the designs and had Sobeys on board if the plan went through.
During this period, the CNE had no idea Smollett was planning to make a pitch.
"I reached out through their website because I didn't know anyone there," she said.
"I didn't hear from them for a week and I thought they must think I'm crazy. But someone reached out and said they were blown away and didn't know what to think."
From Farm to Table is exactly as it sounds. It's entirely Ontario based, from the farmers it uses to all the other ingredients.
Bags can also be found in schools across the city and Smollett's team provides popcorn growing kits to students and teachers.
It's all part of what makes her so proud of her company.
"For so long during the pandemic, we didn't have fun," she said.
"We need to lighten the mood up. I hope this is just the start of other things we can do."
The CNE runs Aug. 16 to Sept. 2.
