‘Shark Tank’ preview: Kodiak Cakes, The Paint Brush Cover, and a Grace & Lace update
We’ll start this “Shark Tank” preview with a dose of honesty: We always love the food products. Maybe it’s sadistic in that the last thing that we should want to do is think about food at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on a Friday night, but that’s precisely what we do. We also just enjoy seeing how people can be creative in a market that tends to practically eat so many entrepreneurs alive.
Before we get in-depth with the food product that we are talking about in this article, let’s start by sharing the synopsis for this episode in full below. (Update: Click here to read our full review of tonight’s episode.)
” Three men from Jackson, NJ with 60 years of painting experience among them, cause the Sharks to get in a feeding frenzy over their convenient way to store a wet paintbrush. Two moms from Austin, TX hope at least one Shark will make an offer for their portable mat that fits into an ultra-compact pouch, two Harvard Business School grads from New York, NY devised a unique way to provide a chef-designed, pre-portioned nutritious meal right to your door, and two men from Park City, UT offer a healthier version of a favorite breakfast with their whole-grain flapjack and waffle mix. Also, an update on Melissa & Rick Hinnant from Leander, TX and their Grace & Lace business that makes hand knitted socks and legwarmers, which Barbara invested in during Season 5.”
Now, we turn to Kodiak Cakes. It’s an interesting idea to try to create mixes for popular breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles that give you whole grains and other nutrients, and we can see it being somewhat popular in the specialty food market. However, there are two obstacles for them to still overcome: Affordability for more mainstream consumers, and also convincing people with a super-healthy lifestyle that they can deviate from their routine and actually have a pancake. Customer acquisition is going to be the key, along with making them knowledgeable about the brand.
Another product Friday in The Paint Brush Cover is a little more straightforward. It’s a cover … for your paintbrush. The selling point seems to be that it keeps your brush in good shape and from drying out. This seems in theory like a great product that could sell really well, but we also must admit that we have a whole lot more experience eating pancakes (just had some for breakfast) than we do paint products.
The panel of sharks in this episode consists of Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, and Mark Cuban; basically, it’s everyone other than Daymond John, so it’s a good thing that nobody is selling a clothing line here.
We’ll be back with a full review of all the products Friday after the episode airs; for now, you can click here to view some other highlights from this season. You can also sign up for our CarterMatt Newsletter to grab some further updates from us, sent right to your email.
Photo: ABC