‘Tis the season of candy treats and sugar comas — however Mark Cuban says he is going “all pure” for the vacations.
The billionaire entrepreneur, investor and “Shark Tank” star tells CNBC Make It he is planning to present out loads of “wholesome meals present packs” over the following couple months.
It isn’t the primary time Cuban has been considerably health-conscious across the holidays: In 2019, after turning into vegetarian, Cuban told CNBC Make It he’d present “wholesome” desserts from Alyssa’s Cookies to household and buddies. “Individuals get a lot junk meals [at the holidays],” Cuban stated on the time. “They want one thing tasty, low-cal and wholesome.”
These cookies, made with out components or preservatives, are again on his record this yr — together with 4 different meals choices. Nearly all of Cuban’s suggestions additionally seem in his funding portfolio, so possibly he is hoping that the season of giving may result in a season of returns.
Here is what he’ll be together with in his vacation present baskets this yr:
Snacklins
$12.99 for a six-pack of 0.9-ounce bags
Vegan pork rind model Snacklins began as a enjoyable problem between buddies to make a wholesome, crunchy snack. Then, in October 2019, founder Samy Kobrosly appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, telling the Sharks in regards to the snacks’ “actual substances {that a} 6-year-old can pronounce” — like mushrooms, yuca, onions, sea salt and sunflower oil.
That was sufficient to hook Cuban, who provided Kobrosly $250,000 in trade for a 5% share of the corporate, and 5% in advisory stakes to develop his enterprise. Over the previous two years, the Rockville, Maryland-baed start-up surpassed $5.3 million in complete gross sales, Kobrosly stated in a latest “Shark Tank” recap video.
A one-ounce bag of Snacklins is 80 energy, about half the quantity of regular pork rinds. After all, you will must determine for your self if pork rinds are actually the identical with out the pig.
Alyssa’s Cookies
$5.95 for a package of eight Oatmeal Bite-size Cookies
In January 2017, Redef CEO Jason Hirschhorn told his publication readers that Cuban despatched him a “massive field” of Alyssa’s cookies for the vacations. Prepare for extra this yr.
The Jupiter, Florida-based firm makes cookies with none hydrogenated oils, margarine, components or preservatives — utilizing solely substances like unrefined entire grains, naturally dried fruits and nuts. Cuban invested within the firm in February 2012, after its co-founder Doug Saraci despatched him a field of cookies within the mail with a observe asking for $50,000 in trade for 25% of the enterprise.
“My spouse [Svitlana] thought that was humorous. She stated a billionaire wouldn’t eat cookies from a field that some man from Florida would ship to him,” Saraci instructed CNBC Make It in 2019.
However Cuban did. And should you’re on his present record, you would possibly quickly get cookies in a field from some man in Texas.
Pan’s Mushroom Jerky
A number of years in the past, jerky bought sizzling. In line with market intelligence agency Innova Market Insights, 152 new jerky meals merchandise launched globally in 2018 — up 52% from simply 5 years prior.
That is the yr Pan’s Mushroom Jerky launched. In 2020, the start-up caught Cuban’s eye on “Shark Tank” when founder Michael Pan described his struggles getting his firm by means of the Covid-19 pandemic’s early months. The style of the corporate’s vegan mushroom-based jerkies impressed each vegetarian and non-vegetarian Sharks on the TV present, too.
Cuban invested $300,000 in trade for 18% fairness within the firm. A Pan’s spokesperson tells CNBC Make It that within the 24 hours following the “Shark Tank” episode, the corporate offered $650,000 price of mushroom jerky. Inside 4 days, that quantity rose to $1 million.
The corporate’s merchandise at the moment are in roughly 3,000 shops nationwide, up from roughly 700 on the time of the taping.
Wanna Date? spreads
The New York Metropolis-based start-up sells candy, date-based spreads and doughs that verify lots of Cuban’s containers: paleo, vegan, comparatively low-calorie, allergy pleasant, no added sugar and a “Shark Tank” appearance.
Cuban invested $100,000 within the firm throughout its “Shark Tank” episode, which aired in January 2020, in trade for 33% of its fairness and two contingencies: Change the packaging to make the product cheaper and modify the road of flavors.
“I simply went vegetarian, so I am all the time on the lookout for issues which can be wholesome, wholesome for my household,” Cuban stated throughout the episode. “The concept of a date-spread is nice.”
At the moment, the corporate’s merchandise can be found in additional than 100 areas — however founder Melissa Bartow says she’s extra centered on constructing out her direct-to-consumer on-line gross sales, noting that she’s making an attempt to construct a “data-based empire.”
She might have an extended strategy to go. Making Cuban’s record is an efficient begin.
Pulp Pantry
$20 for a four-pack of five-ounce bags
These pulp chips are the one objects on Cuban’s record that do not additionally seem in his funding portfolio. Fairly, Cuban says, he merely loves the product.
In line with the 6-year-old firm’s web site, Pulp Pantry began after founder Kaitlin Mogentale watched a good friend juice a carrot and noticed firsthand the big quantity of contemporary pulp that was left behind. A “meals waste warrior,” Mogentale determined to show that unused pulp right into a line of crispy snacks.
“We’re placing greens on the entrance of your pantry, in surprising locations like cereals, chips and extra,” the web site reads.
The Environmental Defense Fund, a New York Metropolis-based advocacy nonprofit, says upcycled meals — new meals produced from reused meals byproducts — may also help scale back the ambiance’s build-up of greenhouse gases like methane, one of many main causes of local weather change.
In 2019, a Future Market Insights report valued the upcycled meals business at virtually $47 billion {dollars}, with a compound annual progress fee of 5% per yr by means of 2029.
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