Highlights
- Heather Kelly pitches Heather’s Choice, dehydrated meals for backcountry camping, on Shark Tank.
- Uses sustainably sourced, wholesome ingredients, offering tastier options than freeze-dried meals.
- Started in 2017 with a successful Kickstarter campaign; available at REI, independent retailers, and online.
Overview
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Name | Heather’s Choice |
| Founders | Heather Kelly |
| Industry | Outdoor/Camping Food |
| Product | Dehydrated meals for backcountry camping |
| Funding | $54,074 from Kickstarter |
| Investment Ask | $250,000 |
| Equity Offered | 10% |
| Valuation | $2.5 million |
Heather Kelly gives the Sharks a taste of Heather’s Choice, her dehydrated meals for backcountry camping, in Shark Tank episode 1511. Unlike typical freeze dried meals you typically see in camping gear stores, Heather’s choice uses wholesome ingredients that are sustainably sourced. The entire meal is cooked before it’s dehydrated, making it tastier than its freeze dried counterparts.
Heather was a collegiate athlete and two time NCAA national women’s rowing champ at Western Washington University. She got her degree in Evolutionary Nutrition and is a certified eating psychology coach. She’s also an avid outdoorswoman who worked as a river guide in Colorado for a time. The Alaska native is an avid and active hiker and camper in the Alaskan wilderness. Her dissatisfaction with availlable freeze dried camping meals led her to experiment with making her own meals for camping. Utilizing her nutritional education, she created healthy, balanced meals designed for fueling the body while on sometimes grueling outdoor adventures.
She started the business in 2017 with a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $54,074. Her meals are a hit with the outdoor crowd as they’re both tasty and nutritious. The meals include both breakfast and dinner/lunch options. Breakfasts include oatmeal, buckwheat and meusli options. Dinners include grass fed beef Shepherd’s Pie, Spaghetti and meatballs, bison chili and much more. She also sells Packaroons, a cookie/energy bar for toting on the trail. There are gluten free and dairy free options as well. Meals cost between $8.95 to $15.95 per serving. Packaroons are $2.50. You can find Heather’s Choice at many independent sporting goods retailers, REI, the company website and Amazon. Heather likely wants a Shark to help her move her operations from Anchorage, Alaska to somewhere in the lower 48 states to reduce manufacturing costs.
Company Information
Video
Posts about Heather’s Choice on Shark Tank Blog
Heathers Choice: Revolutionizing Backcountry Dining
Heather’s Choice Shark Tank Recap
Heather enters the Shark Tank seeking $250,000 for 10% of her company. She assumes the Sharks know the drill about camping: you’re sleeping on the ground, in a tent, there’s bugs and it’s dark. For one second, she wants them to imagine that she’s invited them on the trip of a lifetime. As they sit down around the campfire at night, the first question they ask is “what’s for dinner?” She also wants them to imagine that they can eat something that tastes like a home-cooked meal but it came from a bag.
She introduces Heather’s Choice, her line of lightweight meals and snacks made for adventurers. The entire menu is gluten free and made with only the finest ingredients like wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon. some of her best sellers include grass fed Bison chili and morning glory oatmeal. She makes “pack a roons” which are coconut cookies for your backpack in 8 adventurous flavors. She asks which Shark wants to come on an adventure with her and put healthy, delicious food in backpacks across the globe.
Samples and Questions
Each Shark has a breakfast, a dinner and a few “pack a roons” to try. They dig in and say they like their food. Daymond likes the “pack a roons.” Kevin thinks the chili is fantastic. Mark likes his African peanut stew. Heather has 6 breakfasts, 8 dinners and 8 “pack a roon” flavors. The “pack a roons” are $2.50 each, the breakfasts are $8.95 and the dinners range from $12.50 to $15.95.
When Heather went to Western Washington University she was recruited for the women’s rowing team. Exercising all those hours, she had to learn how to feed herself. She learned everything she could about nutrition while simultaneously helping her team win 4 national championships. After she graduated, she was invited on a 30 day Grand Canyon trip rowing a 3000 pound gear boat over 200 miles. She dehydrated 50 pounds of food for the adventure. That was in 2011 and it was when the idea for a business started to percolate.
Let’s Talk Numbers
Kevin thinks it’s a niche market. He wants to know about customer acquisition and how much she makes from each customer. Heather says she has a 75% margin on everything she makes. Most sales are direct to consumer and she’s in 237 retail locations including REI. 2022 was her first million dollar year. She’s not profitable because she’s manufacturing in Alaska. She tried the co-packing route 3 times but couldn’t keep up the product quality. Very soon she’s leaving Alaska for the “lower 48.” When that happens, gross margin can get closer to 80%. She wants a Shark to help scale the “pack a roon” business and move it to a co-packer.
Heather has been out fundraising for the past 9 months and the feedback she’s getting is the big opportunity lies in the “pack a roon” business. Candace thinks the meals would be great for meals at home; she thinks there’s a huge market of other consumers who would love this food. Over the last 9 years she raised $1.3 million in small tranches. Her advisory board told her to go out and get one big investment; the feedback is the investors don’t think the market opportunity is big enough. Heather reveals she has $1 million in debt.
Who’s In?
Daymond says he feels like she’s negotiating against herself. Heather feels beat up because she didn’t make payroll yesterday. As she begins to cry, she says she’s been “so starved for cash” and if the Sharks saw her balance sheet they’d wonder how she’s still alive. She’s had money offered to her but can’t get investors across the finish line. Daymond says he remembers a guy named Jeff Bezos who lost money for 10 years. The Sharks offer some encouragement.
Kevin says she needs to figure a path to $50 million. He can’t do that for her; he’s out. Candace understands that Heather doesn’t want to compromise her product but she could be making it at a co-packer. Candace thinks she has a lot of potential but she’ll need to make some tough decisions. She cant’ take the ride with Heather; she’s out. Lori asks if Heather has the right people around her and Heather says she has a fantastic team. She’s struggled with having the capital.
Mark thinks the $2.3 million she’s in the hole is a lot of money. He sees someone who is afraid to say yes. He tells her she has to get out of her own head; he’s out. Daymond says he was in her position. She has to make some decisions. He won’t bet against her but he won’t invest; he’s out. Lori thinks the meals are a hero product; she doesn’t think there’s anything else out there like it. She says it would be tragic if she dropped them; Lori goes out too.
Heather’s Choice Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. The company is planning a move to Ashland, Oregon in the coming months. Heather is also looking at microwavable packaging for eating at home. After getting back fro taping Shark Tank, Heather said in a blog post that she was playing “the cash flow shell game” to keep the business going. As of the first re-run of this episode in June, 2024, the company is still in business.
As The Shark Tank Blog will follow-up on Heather’s Choice & Heather Kelly as more details become available.
