Shark Tank: Sharks Don’t Bite For Victioria’s Kitchen

Deborah and David Menione are the owners of Victoria’s Kitchen. Their product is based on a recipe by David’s grandmother, Victoria.

It’s an all-natural almond water: vegan, soy-free, gluten-free, dairy-free. It comes in two flavors. The original is almond, vanilla, and rose. There’s also almond and coconut.

They say everyone loves it, and they have risked everything on their business. However, the food and beverage business is competitive, and they’re asking the sharks to invest so they can make a success of it.

The offer to the sharks is 20% of the company for a $200,000 investment. They’ve invested $250,000 in the business themselves.

The sharks seemed impressed with the taste, and with the relatively small number of calories per bottle (110 for the original flavor, and 100 for the coconut.)

There’s also a new flavor — it’s a low-calorie lemonade with ginger. The couple would like to focus (against the sharks’ suggestions) on getting more flavors into the markets they already have, before seeking new markets.

In their first year, they made $160,000 and in their second year, $300,000. They’re in their third year, and have made $210,000 so far. They sell the product to natural food and specialty food stores, for sixty cents per bottle wholesale.

Barbara expressed a concern. At the rate they’re going, there’s a drop in sales from year two to year three. David explained that was because of a flavor that didn’t go over well: an almond water with licorice-mint.

Lori Greiner was the first to bow out. She said that she like the product, but that it needed to be made a better fit for markets like Whole Foods.

Barbara Corcoran was next. Describing a previous experience of investing in a beverage company, she told the couple that she knows how hard it can be to get shelf space, and that she doesn’t think they understand how much it’s going to cost them to get going.

Robert Herjavec was third. He said that the Victoria’s Kitchen team was actually listening and reacting to feedback too much, implying that they had pulled their licorice-mint product too quickly.

Kevin O’Leary tuned in next. He said that he thought their valuation was off, and that their asked amount was ridiculous. Though the couple tried to negotiate, Kevin explained that he simply didn’t have the time to invest what this company would need. “I’m out.”

Mark Cuban was the only shark left, and David plead with him to invest, saying that he’d reduce the sugar if that was what Mark thought. Mark interrupted to say that David was coming across as desparate, and all the sharks chimed in to agree. Mark, too, was out.

Victoria’s Kitchen left the Shark Tank with no investment.

Image: Victoria’s Kitchen

Shark Tank: Sharks Don’t Bite For Victioria’s Kitchen