New Yorkers love bagels, but for others, eating a full bagel is too much work. Thanks to this couple, Nick and Elise Oleksak created a mini bagel called the Bantam Bagel. They marketed their product on Shark and landed a deal with Lori Greiner. In 2024, Bantam Bagels was valued at $2 million. Before it was acquired in 2018, the company was valued much higher.
Founder
Nicholas and Elise Oleksak are a married couple from New York City. Nicholas holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, while Elise studied sociology and political science at Columbia University.
They both ended up on Wall Street. After college, Nick got his first job as a credit broker at the financial services firm GFI Group.
Elyse started out as an intern at Cohen & Wolfe, Y&R Brands, and The Walt Disney Company. She was later hired as an account executive at J. Walter Thompson Worldwide. Elyse also spent four years at Morgan Stanley as an analyst and associate.
Bantam Bagels founded
As New Yorkers, Nick and Elise loved the taste of bagels but didn’t like how big they were. This gave Nick the idea to bake little bagel balls in his kitchen and fill them with cream cheese.
The couple thought this might be a business, so they opened a store in 2013. They were selling bagels through retail, which brought in some sales but low margins. The aspiring entrepreneurs tried to bring their promising snack product to television.
Bantam Bagels appeared on QVC and sold out in minutes. After that, they attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey and the New York Daily News. As a result, it has sales of about $200,000.
Shark Tank Appearance
Nick and Elise applied to Shark Tank several times before finally being accepted in 2015. The couple appeared on Season 5 and asked for $275,000 for 11% of the company. Given their background in corporate finance, their pitch was perfect.
Robert and Mark withdrew because the food industry was highly competitive and required a lot of capital. Barbara Corcoran made her first offer of $275,000 for 51%. Kevin O’Leary offered $275,000 for 50% but put in several conditions. Both were rejected. Lori Greiner made the same offer but only for 30%. The founders counter-offered 25% and the deal was done.
After Shark Tank
The night of the “Shark Tank” show, the Bantam Bagels website crashed from a surge in orders. Later, the mini bagels went on sale at Starbucks and 21,000 stores nationwide, such as Safeway and Stop & Shop.
Their rapid rise attracted significant interest from large companies. As a result, T. Marzetti Corporation acquired the bagel brand for $34 million in October 2018. At the time, the company had annual net sales of $20 million, according to Forbes. Lori’s investment of $275,000 will bring her an exit gain of $8.5 million.
However, the restaurant industry has been hit hard since the outbreak, with stores forced to close and restaurants scaling back their menus. The biggest blow was when Starbucks discontinued the product, according to Baking Business. Starbucks customers were disappointed and launched a petition on Change.org to reinstate the product, which garnered more than 1,000 signatures.
Bantam Bagels was the reason for the decline in profits when Lancaster Colonial lost $4.48 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2022. The financial report showed that non-cash restructuring and impairment charges for Bantam Bagels were “$22.7 million.”
Lancaster Colony (parent company of T. Marzetti Company) exited the business in mid-2022 but hopes to find a buyer. Bantam Bagels’ official website is now offline and its Instagram account has been deleted. The bagels are still sold in some supermarkets.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn