Running a new business takes time, but when your new investment partner happens to be Mark Cuban himself, I reckon that the path to retail shelves got a little bit easier. Everything Legendary Founders Duane “Myko” Cheers, Danita Claytor, and Jumoke Jackson pitched their palate-pleasing plant-based burger in an energetic, exciting episode of ABC-TV’s Shark Tank, which aired Friday, February 26, catching the interest of Shark Mark Cuban who ultimately invested $300,000 for a 22 percent stake in the Metro DC start-up.
“All the Sharks agreed it was the best-tasting plant-based burger they’d ever tried,” Cheers observed. “Barbara Corcoran felt it was priced too high, but Mark Cuban understood that the quality of the product set it apart. Lori Greiner loved the product, but didn’t like the packaging. Again, Mark understood that our packaging was still being refined and that he could help with that.”
Company CEO Cheers attributes the team's successful pitch to several factors, including a product with natural ingredients that give great-tasting flavor, a texture that promises to set a new standard for the plant-based meat market, and a high-energy, strategic founding team that has shown that they are not afraid to take risks to get a premium product in front of consumers and industry influencers.
According to the release, Cheers says that Cuban’s investment was “an absolute game-changer” for the brand, allowing the company to increase product capacity and assure seamless national distribution.
“This gives us the resources that allow us to position our brand against any competitor, where I know we will win on the flavor and quality,” Cheers stated. “For me, this investment is extremely personal. It is a validation of my ‘never give up’ philosophy. I heard ‘no’ 1,000,001 times over the years, but this one ‘yes’ moment changes everything.”
Cuban, a vegetarian himself, adds Everything Legendary to his portfolio of plant-based business investments, which include brands such as Beyond Sushi, Cinnaholic, Snacklins, Veggie Mama, Wild Earth, and others. His investment is already proving to be a good one, as the company sold $250,000 worth of burgers within 24 hours of the show airing.
“We knew from the start that taste is everything,” explained Cheers. “It began with a search for something healthy and good-tasting that our mothers would want to eat. Once we had that, we took it to the streets with pop-up stores and street festival sampling and let the community taste it for themselves. We all know that today’s consumers are demanding that their food be nutritious and supercharged with flavor. Our brand delivers. It’s Mom-Approved. And now, it’s also Shark-Sanctioned.”
Everything Legendary plant-based burgers are made by hand from a recipe developed by Partner and Chef, Jumoke Jackson, and inspired by the Founders’ mothers. The result is a great-tasting burger with a nuanced flavor, the mouthfeel and texture of meat, yet is free of artificial preservatives, has no GMOs, and contains no soy.
Already, the Black-owned brand has begun to attract the attention of major retailers, including Acme, Giant, and Safeway, with additional grocers ready to put the products in their frozen and refrigerated meat cases in spring and summer 2021. Everything Legendary has also brought on staff to ramp up distribution to the hospitality industry; its e-commerce website; and to invest in its innovation pipeline for more great-tasting, plant-based products in the future.
As new products, innovations, and investments come to light, Deli Market News will continue to report.
