Chumming Without Bait
Juliano and I just expanded to our second marketplace and we felt accomplished again. Could we have been happier if the sales from Walmart came in as easily as Amazon? Sure, but nobody expected that. Still, I was happy we were following our mission and this move represented us planting seeds.
The thing about growing miracle berry plants is that they take a long time to produce berries, about fifty months from seeding. We could have pursued some shortcuts but that would compromise our Non-GMO status. To this day I believe our customers want the wildest berry verified and certified to come from Mother Nature. No shortcuts, just the real deal.
That’s how I approached expanding supply and demand too. Fully believing building a brand takes years of compounding efforts, I seriously doubt you could find one founder who takes sole credit. In my opinion, it takes more than hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of people to build something that withstands the test of time. No matter how much money I raised over x number of rounds, it seemed impossible to rush what we aimed to do.
At least that’s what I told myself as I applied for Shark Tank ABC in late 2017. My faith in guiding principles like patiently building and bootstrapping vanished as I dreamed about standing on the carpet. To say I was a fan of the show was a gigantic understatement. From the first ever demo who told me I "need to take this on Shark Tank" back in 2013, people had been drilling this dream in my head countless times.
Despite knowing we had no business being on the show, mostly due to the not having much of a business part, I couldn’t bear the thought of our greatest competitor beating us to the Tank. This tablet company had a 10year head start on us and I saw major celebrities reacting on videos with millions of views. Chefs were not just writing cookbooks, they were promoting it on American tours.
Frankly, I was driven by fear as I tuned in to watch my favorite show week after week. I had no idea if they were applying but I had to do something. One thing for certain, this was no way to live.
Now for this week’s flavor experiment.
Dragon fruit is still in season and I had to know what the berry could do to it. I picked up a ripe one, cut it open and let Nature's Wild Berry coat my tongue for 30 seconds. The fruit was already refreshing but after the berry it became candy sweet, almost like it had been dusted with sugar. The crunchy seeds against the new sweetness made a dessert you could eat straight out of nature.
That’s the fun of these experiments. Sometimes the berry fixes what is unpleasant, sometimes it transforms what's already delicious into something unforgettable.
Every week there’s a continuation of the story, a new flavor and a spark of curiosity. Keep an eye out for the hidden 48 hour alphanumeric discount code tucked in here for 20 percent off. It’s my way of saying thanks for showing up and being part of the adventure.
— Hank