Jenni-Lyn Williams, Chief Snark Officer at Snarky Tea, hopes the Sharks invest in her tea company that seeks to empower women while delivering delicious tea in Shark Tank episode 905. Williams, a former financial marketing consultant, started the business in 2016 at the suggestion of her daughter. She wants to build a business that isn’t an overly sexualized brand. In doing so, she delivers “delicious tea and a boost of confidence.”
Snarky is a good way to describe the tea. There’s a tea for every situation the tea drinking woman wants. With names like Wake The F**k Up, Get Your Sh*t Together, Namaste Mother F**ker, Calm The F**k Down, Fierce B*tch, and Get Your A**In Bed, the snark meter is at “11.”
Williams was a hit at the 2017 Oscars. Snarky Tea was a featured gift in the gifting suite and a well received hot beverage among the guests. Williams sources her tea through an FDA registered importer in China. After that, she ships the raw tea to Philadelphia and blends them in a USDA licensed and inspected facility.
You can buy the tea at any number of independent tea shops across the country with the majority of retailers in the northeast. They’re also available on Amazon and the company website. Each tin costs $12.99 and comes with 15 whole leaf tea sachets. There are different blends with different flavors, caffeine levels and benefits – like a soothing tea or a tea that’s good for hangovers. Williams likely wants a Shark’s help getting national distribution deals with large grocery chains. Will a Shark like this Snark?
Snarky Tea Company Information
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Posts about Snarky Tea on Shark Tank Blog
Snarky Teas – Drink Your Feelings
Snarky Tea Shark Tank Recap
A very pregnant Jenni-Lyn enters seeking $150,000 for 25% of her business. After snarkily explaining her products, the Sharks are suitably amused. As with any food or beverage item, she hands out samples to the Sharks.
Mr. Wonderful states the tea is for women only. Jenni-Lyn says it’s intentional, but Kevin doesn’t like keeping 50% of the market away. Bethenny chimes in that women buy most of the tea in their households, but Robert and Mark say they buy tea all the time. Mark made the point that Jenni-Lyn wasn’t really selling tea – she was selling attitude. Bethenny thinks the message is confused; tea is a soothing product but Snarky Tea wasn’t using that angle.
When they start to talk numbers, things get interesting. 85% of sales come from the business website and 15% from around forty brick and mortar stores. She’s done %190,000 in sales in the past 8 months. Kevin wants to know customer acquisition costs and she says it’s eleven bucks a customer. She sells a box of tea for $12.99 and it costs her $4.85. Kevin says she’s not making any money.
When Lori first speaks, she has concerns about the brand’s sustainability and she goes out. Robert quickly follows, saying it’s “too niche” for him. Mark thinks Amazon will create their own brand and crush her, so he’s out too. That leaves Kevin and Bethenny.
Kevin thinks he can plug Snarky Tea into his “something wonderful” platform, but it comes at a steep price: $150,000 for 50%. Bethenny, citing her distribution channels, offers the same deal. Jenni-Lyn asks if they’d team up and they agree to, but Jenni-lyn wants them to go to 42%. They say no. After Mark cautions Jenni-Lyn to NOT give up 50%. Bethenny says Jenni-Lyn needs to trust her partners. After a moment, she agrees and they do the deal.
Snarky Tea Shark Tank Update
The Shark Tank Blog constantly provides updates and follow-ups about entrepreneurs who have appeared on the Shark Tank TV show. Snarky Tea did close the deal with Kevin and Bethenny, but they haven’t been screaming from the rooftops about it. The deal changed; instead of $150,000 for 50%, the Sharks teamed up to give $150,000 for 12% each. They continue to sell tea and the business appears to be doing well. Despite Bethenny’s concerns, Jenni-Lyn hasn’t toned down the message. Evidence: she’s selling mugs that say “It’s Mutherf@@cking Tea Time!” One new addition is a monthly subscription service.
Snarky Tea gets an update segment in season 10’s episode 1009. We’ll learn more about their progress then. In the update, we learn about the huge increase in sales the company experienced. In April, 2020, the company acquired a business that appeared in season 10, BRUW, a cold coffee filter system. She repurposed the cold filter coffee brewer into an iced tea maker. Mark invested $50,000 for 25% of BRUW; terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Around the time of the acquisition, she introduced “Feel Good” teas – with names like “Cleanse” and “Detox,” – they’re essentially the same teas, but without the Snark. They also introduced seasonal blends that get dropped periodically the year and a “Tea of the Month” club. As of August, 2023, Jenni-Lyn reports annual sales of $6 million.
