Potato Parcel Entrepreneurs Present Their Pitch On Shark Tank
Highlights
- Potato Parcel appeared in the eighth season of Shark Tank.
- Entrepreneurs Alex Craig and Riad Bekhit bagged a deal from Kevin O’Leary.
- The Potato Parcel company touched the $7 million sales figure five years after the show.
Shark Tank has often shown that self-belief, when coupled with a creative idea, can offer amazing results. No matter the number of questions and naysayers, entrepreneurs must stay committed to their ventures. One example of the same was seen in the Potato Parcel Shark Tank Pitch.
In one of the show’s weirdest business pitches, Alex Craig, along with Riad Bekhit, presented Potato Parcel in the eighth season of Shark Tank. While the judges seemed more amused than impressed, the pitchers managed to secure a deal from Kevin O’Leary. Additionally, it has now emerged as a great Shark Tank success.
The complete details about Potato Parcel’s bizarre yet creative business idea. Along with it, here is a recap of the pitch, the final deal, the company’s current status, and the reasons that propelled Potato Parcel’s growth.
Potato Parcel Shark Tank: Business Idea
As the name suggests, Potato Parcel is a company that mails potatoes. But each potato has anonymous, custom messages written over it. Alex Craig got the idea in 2015 when he was on Reddit and saw that that day’s trending topic was a potato with stamps on it.
Thinking the idea was funny and interesting, Alex decided to work on similar grounds and take the opportunity to start his own potato-based venture. The entrepreneur hence began mailing potatoes with handwritten messages on them.
Potato Parcel Shark Tank: Pitch Recap And Final Deal
In the eighth season, entrepreneurs Alex Craig and Riad Bekhit approached the Shark investors with ‘Potato Parcel.’ Seeking 50K for 10% equity, the entrepreneurs tried to win the Sharks’ attention with their quirky potato parcel idea. They added that there were different potatoes for holidays and Valentine’s Day.
Describing the custom messages written on each potato, Alex and Rad claimed that the product could be delivered in 24-48 hours. During the Potato Parcel Shark Tank pitch, the cost for a standard written message was $9.99. The price for postcards was $12.99, and that for print photos was $14.99.
After this, the entrepreneur duo added that they had sold more than 12,000 potatoes since starting in 2015. Till the time of their Shark Tank appearance, the duo had made $213K. Plus, Riad had bought the business for $42K from Alex, who was getting a royalty of $1 per potato for 60 days after the show.
Kevin O’Leary’s Deal With Potato Parcel
While the other Shark Tank investors opted out of the Potato Parcel Shark Tank deal, Kevin became interested once he heard the word ‘royalty.’ So, he offered $50K for 10% equity along with half of Alex’s royalty for the next two months after their Shark Tank journey. Once that period ended, he wanted $1 per potato until he recouped $150K.
Robert Herjavec, too, proposed a deal of $50K for 25% equity, which Alex and Riad countered with 17.5% equity. When he rejected it, the duo accepted Kevin’s deal.
Potato Parcel Shark Tank: Success And Current Status
Potato Parcel achieved great strides after its Shark Tank appearance. It sold more than 70,000 parcels by 2020. Plus, sales made was more than $7 million. Impressed by its success, Shark Tank placed it in the ‘greatest pitch success’ section during the ‘Greatest Of All Time Special’ segment in the same year.
Currently, Potato Parcel makes about $600K-$700K per year (as of July 2024).
What Led The ‘Silly’ Business Idea to Turn Into A Million-Dollar Business?
In one of his 2015 interviews, Alex stated that when his girlfriend heard about Potato Parcel’s business idea, she thought it was ‘stupid.’ Plus, she believed that he could not get a single order for the potatoes. Alex faced similar reactions during Shark Tank when the judges laughed at the idea.
However, contrary to their opinions, Potato Parcel did quite well and helped the ‘potato-mailing’ company emerge as a million-dollar empire. Below are some contributors to its growth:
Out-of-Box Idea—While the thought of mailing potatoes may seem bizarre, it is equally novel. The unique nature of the product is what attracted users to Alex and Riad’s venture. Although people may laugh initially, the same funny nature of the product has intrigued users since its beginning.
Anonymous Messages – Potato Parcel allows buyers to find handwritten anonymous, custom messages on potatoes. The company then parcels those potatoes and delivers the message to the intended person. The option of staying anonymous but still being able to convey what they want has been compelling people to buy Potato Parcel’s products.
Popularity – The ‘Shark Tank Effect’ is second to none. Any product that appears on the show does see a spike in sales after its appearance. The same happened with Potato Parcel. After the show, its popularity further increased, leading to an exemplary rise in sales figures.
Conclusion
The Potato Parcel Shark Tank journey reiterates the power of creativity and perseverance. Although Alex Craig faced initial skepticism, he believed in his business idea, got Riad Bekhit’s support, and made it to Shark Tank. The duo then successfully bagged a deal for their quirky and unconventional business.
The product’s novelty and eccentricity, combined with Shark Tank’s exposure, helped transform its ‘silly’ idea into a million-dollar empire.
References
- This Kevin O’Leary-backed 28-year-old brings in 6 figures a year selling potatoes online, CNBC, Ali Montag
Entrepreneur, auteur, raconteur. Rob Merlino is a blogger and writer who enjoys the Shark Tank TV show and Hot Dogs. A father of five who freelances in a variety of publications, Rob has a stable of websites including Shark Tank Blog, Hot Dog Stories, Rob Merlino.com and more.
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