Plant-based meat startups have found a home on Shark Tank. The latest entrant into the space is Meat the Mushroom, whose flagship product is the mushroom bacon alternative Shroomacon. Recently, Marvin and Aleah Rae Montague pitched their product on the show and inked a deal with Kevin O’Leary. After Shark Tank, Meat the Mushroom is valued at around $2 million.
Meet the Montague Family
Shroomacon is different from other plant-based bacon because it is not made in a mould. Every piece of Shroomacon bacon looks different and is gluten-free, soy-free and cholesterol-free.
It’s hard to believe that little Marvin Montagu achieved this by accident. He had suffered from asthma and heart disease since childhood. When he became a vegan, it took only one year for the ailments to disappear.
Therefore, he wanted to share the benefits of vegetarianism by opening a vegetarian restaurant with his wife. At the time, Aleah was working in the marketing department of several online and brick-and-mortar retailers.
The Montagues wanted the restaurant to stick with natural ingredients and not rely so heavily on soy as the main source of protein on the menu, but they didn’t proceed with the plan when they realized they could help more people get on the road to retail.
Original meat mushroom
Marvin spent a year experimenting with mushrooms. Eventually, he found the five golden ingredients that made mushrooms taste like pork: King Oyster Mushroom, olive oil, natural smoke flavor, black pepper, and salt.
No unnecessary additives or processing. In 2021, Meat the Mushroom launched its first product, Shroomacon. Marvin and Aleah entered an increasingly crowded market but still made it work.
The husband-and-wife team regularly sells out their produce at farmers markets and has caught the attention of celebrities like Tabitha Brown and Keri Hilson. More importantly, after a rigorous application process, the couple got the green light from the producers of Shark Tank to appear on Season 15.
After Shark Tank
Aleah spoke to the founders of Like Air to help them prepare for a big increase in sales. Shroomacon was out of stock this week and just got restocked in time for Friday’s show. The deal with Kevin should be completed within the next three months.
Customers who have previously registered in the “Friends and Family” mailbox will receive orders first. New customers may need to wait longer to receive their orders.
On the store locations page of MeatTheMushroom.com, you can see which retail stores carry the product. Currently, Shroomacon is available in stores in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Atlanta, Madison, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston, Portland, and more. In an interview with BizJournals.com, Marvin Montague Jr. believes Shark Tank could get its product into 1,000 grocery stores by the end of 2024.
The Black-owned business sells a 4-pack for $48 and an 8-pack for $88. The two products have nearly 400 5-star customer reviews combined on Judge.me. The founders plan to expand their product line by developing mushroom-based sausages and boneless ribs.
This will be quite a challenge, as mushrooms are currently trending in the vegan market. This underrated ingredient is used as a main ingredient in meat substitutes by industry giants such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. One of Meat the Mushroom’s potential competitors is Umaro Foods, a startup that has a $1 million deal with Mark Cuban.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn