S16.E02: Topsail Steamer; Life Raft Treats; RigStrips; BucketGolf

[CrazyInAlabama]

New, 10/25/2024

Sharks- Mark, Kevin, Lori, Daymond, guest Shark: Todd Graves (Raising Cane’s)

 

Topsail Steamer-  Seafood buckets, home seafood steam pots. Seeking $350,000 for 8%. You get seafood and sides, pot, seasoning, and simple instructions.  They have brick and mortar stores, and online. They have different versions, depending on ingredients. Average order price is $177.  8 brick and mortar stores, 7 owned by founder, and 1 franchise, all on the east coast.  Sales were $4.7 million last year, and over $5 million this year.  They sell online through Gold Belly.   They want to go to the franchise system.  No other investors, just the founder.  Todd Graves says don’t do franchises, they don’t execute the quality of food and services brick and mortar owned by the company do.  

Todd also says raise the manager’s salaries over $100k.   Todd offers $350k for 20% (he would be a fantastic partner for her, he’s done it with Raising Cain’s and he can do it for Topsail.  Lori wants to go in with Todd, $350k with 10% each. 

Deal with Lori and Todd, $350,000 for 18% split 9% each

 

Life Raft Treats Ice Cream- fried chicken-shaped ice cream. Seeking $250,000 for 5%. (I’m sorry, I can’t even look at their product).    Ice cream is crunchy, and really looks like fried chicken.  Tastes like called Not Fried Chicken Ice Cream.  They have a peach bombe sorbet, hot dogs mint chocolate chip, and other flavors that all look like other foods.   They sell in 500 retail locations in grocery frozen sections.  $1.2 million sales last year, small profit, this year $1.7 million.   They sell the 9 piece buckets direct to consumer.  

Mark doesn’t like selling frozen foods, so he’s out. Daymond is out.  Lori is out.   Kevin says it’s too soon for him.   Todd Graves is out too, but tells them to stick to one product, not a bunch, and stay with the fried chicken ice cream.   (By the way, the fried chicken bucket is $110 on Gold Belly).

No deal.

 

RigStrips Gear Holders- a magnetic solution to safely secure skis and snowboards. Seeking $300,000 for 7.5%.   Quicker and easier than conventional straps.   SnoStrip applies magnetically to the outside of your vehicle. SunStrip is for fishing poles.  So your gear stays put, and you don’t scratch your car.   They have an adhesive strip one and a magnetic strip version.  No snow strip competitors, fishing one has a few Amazon competitors.   Total sales $3 million, since 2020, half since last year, expect $2.7 mil this year.    62% of sales in November and December (for gifts).   They want marketing help.   They have design patents.   Mark is out. Kevin is out. Lori is out. Daymond is out.  Todd says $300,000 for 20%.  They counter $300,000 for 15%

Todd makes the deal $300,000 for 15%.

BucketGolf - a portable backyard golf game. Seeking $1 million for 10%.  Excitement of golf, par three golf game you can play anywhere, change the course whenever you want to.  For par 3, you get three shots to hit the ball in the bucket.  Lori hits the bucket, Todd misses.   Sales are $5.9 in 2023, on track for $12 million for this year.   Margins are decent.   Sold on Amazon, and direct to consumer.  No competitors.  Design patent pending.   They need logistics help.

Mark is out. Todd is out.   Kevin doesn’t like the valuation, but offers $1 million for 25%.   Daymond offers $1 million for 25% too.   Lori $1 million for 22.5% preferred stock.  Mark is back in and offers $1 million for 15%. 

Deal with Mark $1 million for 12.5%  

 

Profile of Todd Graves, founder, owner of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers.   He started right out of college. He raised money by working as a boiler maker, and went fishing for Sockeye Salmon in Alaska.   Over 800 locations.

Edited October 26 by CrazyInAlabama

[Quickbeam]

I kind of like Todd. He is kind and seems to know his stuff. I wish Cuban was already gone, it bugs me when people really want to see what he’ll offer. I’d never heard of Raising Canes but I see they have 2 stores in Wisconsin. Huh. 

[Vermicious Knid]

I know Raising Canes is pretty popular but I've tried it and the food is 'meh'. The fries in particular are limp and soggy and may be the worst fast-food fries I've ever had. 

Seafood buckets must be getting the same consumers who buy Boarderie. There are so many places for seafood boil now, you still need a stove or heater for the bucket so why not just get a boil to go and reheat it? Probably $100 less.

The ski/fishing pole holders actually make sense and already have a proven track record. Checks Google; 18.46 million people in the United States went skiing last year and 57.77 million people participated in fishing. If they sell to only 1% that's millions right there. 

She's a pastry chef who is so good she's been nominated for a James Beard award everywhere she's worked. And she's making ice cream pretending to be fried chicken. What?

[EtheltoTillie]

So am I to understand the fried chicken ice cream does not taste like chicken and only looks like it?  It was not clear from the episode. 

Edited October 26 by EtheltoTillie

[Shrek]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

So am I to understand the fried chicken ice cream does not taste like chicken and only looks like it?  It was not clear from the episode. 

Yes & they do other ice cream things that look like something else. I remember seeing a tv dinner & hot dogs as well.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, the fried chicken ice cream looks like fried chicken is crispy and crunchy on the outside, but is only ice cream.   Some other flavors, like the peach shaped, are peach sorbet.    Todd advised them to stick with the fried chicken buckets and not do the others.   They had way too many different looks, and they needed to concentrate on their primary seller.    They are doing very well with the 9 piece fried chicken buckets through Gold Belly, and the rest were not high sellers.   I would say to keep the peach if it sells well, because it was sorbet.  

[30 Helens]

21 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Todd advised them to stick with the fried chicken buckets and not do the others

Of course he did. The man is clearly chicken obsessed.

Seriously, I did not get the point of that at all. People might try it for the novelty, but then they’re just going to go back to whatever ice cream tastes best. I also didn’t get the need for the ski thingies. Is it really so important to put your skis against the car while you load them? Can’t you just lay them on the ground? And while I didn’t really see the bucket golf demo, I think they were just hitting balls into a bucket? Why do you need a kit for that? Can’t you just use your own bucket?

And now I’m thinking that I must have been very cranky while watching this.

[bilgistic]

I thought Todd was stupid not to buy in on the chicken ice cream. It's literally the perfect dessert to sell at his restaurants. People might buy it only once, but that's still a hell of a lot of ice cream sold. He could try a pilot program and see how well or not well it sells.

Edited October 26 by bilgistic

[tired and hungry]

I'm confused. Just how exactly was Lori going to help in the Seafood boil business??  Plus it looked like she was only eating the sausage, it didn't even seem like she tried any of the seafood!! Todd could have easily done the deal without her. Her offer/ interest in the business just did not make sense to me and felt so forced..

Agree with the snowboard thing, seems like such a non-issue. You need a whole product just to lean your snowboard on the car for 2 seconds?

LOL It's always hilarious to me when the entreprenuers, after getting an offer from just 1 shark, claim that "oh they were exactly the shark we wanted"!

*sigh* another "immigrant" story. At this point just saying the word immigrant in your pitch seems to be the norm. Just throw the word in there to get some brownie points I suppose..

The golf thing seemed so overpriced. $100+ for that is just wild..

 Honorable mention to Lori just grinning like a weirdo for some of the pitches.😬

2 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

And now I’m thinking that I must have been very cranky while watching this.

Hahaha. It's the show! Makes me cranky too(Atleast that's what I tell myself🤣)

[seacliffsal]

I so did not need to see Mark stick out his tongue at Lori.  Just leave already-I really wish he had left at the end of last season.  His arrogance just annoys me (yes, sometimes he give good advice but he just bothers me).

I just don't really get the ice cream that doesn't look like ice cream.  On various cooking competitions they will have challenges in which they make something that looks completely different from what it is and tastes like.  To me, it's too gimmicky.  And, I couldn't believe it when she said 'the first thing you should know about me is that my parents are immigrants.'  Well, that's about your parents and I don't see any connection to your actual product.  I guess if I was on the show, I would start with 'my ancestors were immigrants...'

Is Bucketgolf the new croquet?  I don't see people pulling that out to play very often.  And, one would need a fairly good size yard (no way any of the yards of any of the houses in which I have lived would accommodate 9 buckets with needed space).

Liked Todd, would like to see him again.  However, I had never heard of his company before this episode.

[Quickbeam]

I had to laugh when Lori said she was a foodie. Most likely at her age she probably eats very little to maintain her size. She’s in her 50s. 

[KaveDweller]

I had never heard of Todd or his restaurant, but I liked him. I appreciated that he came ready to make deals.

I do not understand the point of ice cream that looks like fried chicken. Why would you ever even think of that?

I also am surprised so many people would spend money on equipment to whack golf balls around your yard. 

[seacliffsal]

1 hour ago, Quickbeam said:

I had to laugh when Lori said she was a foodie. Most likely at her age she probably eats very little to maintain her size. She’s in her 50s. 

Not only that, but she often 'bows out' of food products because she only eats 'healty' along with other limiting preferences.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Raising Cane's has over 800 stores, but not in every state.   The sell only chicken fingers (and I'm ticked they're not in my area).   We have two similar stores where I am (one is Guthries, only chicken fingers, and the other is a local store with 5 or 6 stores, they do chicken fingers, nuggets, burgers and similar items).    Todd's entire point was he was told a single item food store couldn't make it, but he proved them wrong.       

I think with the fried chicken ice cream (I'm not a fan) the people had a ton of skews, with various flavors, and only the friend chicken look was their best seller.  I know Gold Belly is expensive, but I was still surprised that the family size 9 piece bucket was $110.00.    I'm not paying over $9.00 for a piece of chicken.    I can see a lot of issues handling that item in a fast food store, if it defrosts at all, I bet the crispy outside would get mushy.   For people who can't have milk items, the peach sorbet might be a good additional skew, but the others were just a gimmicks.    

They were doing very well with their current business model, and I bet their business had a huge bump from being on the show.   

The golf game is going to appeal to people who like backyard games, and have the room for them.   I didn't see the appeal personally, but they'll have a nice business with a smaller part of the game market, for people who want to have some backyard games, and want to change the course around.  If your yard's smaller, you could just downsize the number of 'holes' you set up.  

Apparently, the snowboard and fishing rod holder was useful, but maybe there are enough people who will buy it.   Did nothing for me, but I don't fish or ski or snowboard.   

The steamer bucket will sell very well.   I've only lived one town with the low country boil available, and they're very popular.   I think it will be a perfect product with Lori's Boarderie (I also didn't think that would amount to anything), and Todd as a partner will be very helpful.    Low country boil places are really expensive, so if you get the same price, don't have to go to pick one up that may not be good quality, then getting the home bucket may be a great answer.  Also, the restaurants want you out as quick as they can, so having a table full of low country boil could be a better option for home parties.  

 

[Shrek]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Raising Cane's has over 800 stores, but not in every state.   The sell only chicken fingers (and I'm ticked they're not in my area).   We have two similar stores where I am (one is Guthries, only chicken fingers, and the other is a local store with 5 or 6 stores, they do chicken fingers, nuggets, burgers and similar items).    Todd's entire point was he was told a single item food store couldn't make it, but he proved them wrong.       

 

 

That's the whole premise that In n Out was built on, do one thing well, so he's not the first to do such a thing. Almost every time I go to an In n Out there is a McD or some such in the same vicinity yet there is no line at them & a 30 minute line for the In n Out drive thru.

[Tango64]

$110 for a 9-piece bucket of faux chicken is  $12 a piece. That's a lot just to say, “Ha ha! It really looks like chicken!”

I wish they had addressed who is going to spend that much and who is going to buy it more than once after the novelty wears off. I can’t see it being more than a one time purchase, and a splurge even then.

But they don’t talk about questions like that much anymore. It’s just all about the financials. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think other pitches like the Boarderie Charcuterie (hope the spelling is close) for over priced convenience items show that people will pay incredible amounts for luxury items you can brag about.   

The $110 price for the nine piece bucket includes shipping, but $12 a piece is expensive.   The seller also has an ice cream truck too, so I bet that's popular and expensive to have at your event.   96% of their Gold Belly customers say it's a good product.     

I bet the steamer buckets will be a huge seller too.   The low country boils are very popular and expensive, and if you're into that sort of meal experience you'll probably buy from them.    There aren't that many places that offer it here, and the prices are $$$$.   

Backyard games like the Bucket Golf you would only have to buy once, just like Corn Hole and other backyard sport items.    

I guess there are enough people who have a big budget, and want to have the latest thing.    

[CrazyTrain]

All I can say is Lori - top touching your hair! She keeps pushing it out of her eyes and it falls back in right away. A clip or tuck it behind her ears. It's so distracting.

Is there going to be a different guest shark every week, never to return? Really annoying.

[Quickbeam]

I don’t think GoldBelly is a bad way to go for regional or frozen food. Yes it’s pricey but I’ve never had a bad experience with them. I’m an east coast transplant to the Midwest and there is a lot of food that doesn’t make it out here. 

[eel2178]

On 10/25/2024 at 11:20 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

she's making ice cream pretending to be fried chicken. What?

My question was "why?"

I can't for the life of me think of any reason someone would buy ice cream shaped like a drumstick with a pretzel "bone" in it. That's just grotesque.

Also, what do Life Rafts have to do with their product?

Edited November 3 by eel2178

[eel2178]

On 10/25/2024 at 6:57 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Todd Graves says don’t do franchises, they don’t execute the quality of food and services brick and mortar owned by the company do.  

It's probably a good thing that Barbara wasn't around to hear that!

[eel2178]

On 10/28/2024 at 2:18 PM, CrazyTrain said:

Is there going to be a different guest shark every week, never to return? Really annoying.

Just like last season, I think they are auditioning to take Mark's spot.

This guy is someone who I would like to see on a regular basis. Gwenyth Paltrow, the Spanx lady or Daniel "Unkind," I definitely have no desire to see again.

[tired and hungry]

9 hours ago, eel2178 said:

This guy is someone who I would like to see on a regular basis. Gwenyth Paltrow, the Spanx lady or Daniel "Unkind," I definitely have no desire to see again.

IIRC wasn't Daniel going to be one of the regular sharks now? I don't know if he will be replacing Mark or not but that's what I read somewhere.

I said it before but we need some younger and fun sharks. I'm just tired of looking at these 50yr+ sharks. Just bring in some fresh faces

[ljenkins782]

On 10/26/2024 at 1:20 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

I know Raising Canes is pretty popular but I've tried it and the food is 'meh'. The fries in particular are limp and soggy and may be the worst fast-food fries I've ever had. 

They just opened a few around here and I thought their fries were particularly good. Like all fast food fries, they're best eaten right away and don't reheat well, but they were crispy and good. For me, Burger King holds the title of worst fast food French fries of all time. 

I really liked Todd as a shark, he had good advice and didn't seem too full of himself. On a purely shallow note, wow, he was good looking in his youth, lol. 

Quote

 

I think other pitches like the Boarderie Charcuterie (hope the spelling is close) for over priced convenience items show that people will pay incredible amounts for luxury items you can brag about.   

The $110 price for the nine piece bucket includes shipping, but $12 a piece is expensive.   The seller also has an ice cream truck too, so I bet that's popular and expensive to have at your event.   96% of their Gold Belly customers say it's a good product. 

 

This product makes much more sense now that someone mentioned Goldbelly, this is exactly the kind of thing I could see doing well there. And the seafood boil would probably fit there as well.

Goldbelly loves to feature novelty stuff like the fried chicken ice cream and the price point fits their general scale. A novelty product shipped to someone as a gift, this totally makes sense. But I don't see it in a retail environment.

 

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 11/3/2024 at 5:35 AM, tired and hungry said:

I said it before but we need some younger and fun sharks. I'm just tired of looking at these 50yr+ sharks. Just bring in some fresh faces

I think Kevin is really the only irreplaceable shark. He sits in the middle and is basically the host (i.e. he's the one usually saying "OK, you have two offers. What are you gonna do?").

The seafood boils looked good to me and the Mrs., but $184 (on the website) for their Shark Tank Special which would would be one meal for the two of us??? Here in the Phoenix area, there are several excellent seafood places (including a chain called Angry Crab that does all manner of boils) where we would spend maybe half that much.

I agree that you'd get the Not Fried Chicken ice cream maybe once as a novelty but that's it. I think Todd didn't go in on it (despite the theme being perfect for his chain) because he'd have to install ice cream freezers at all of his locations and train high-turnover employees how not to wreck one more machine. As he said, his chain works because they sell exactly one thing (two if you count the fries).

They have a lot of Raising Cane's here. I personally think their chicken fingers are good but not great.