Just the Cheese Update | Shark Tank Season 11
According to the entrepreneur behind Just the Cheese, the best part of the grilled cheese is the cheese that melts to the pan. He used this premise and his family’s cheesemaking expertise to create his snack bar empire. Will the sharks take a bit out of this cheesy Season 11 deal? Read our
Shark Tank Just the Cheese Update
- Entrepreneur: David Scharfman
- Business: Keto cheese snack bars
- Ask: $500,000 for 5% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
David Scharfman comes from a family of Wisconsin cheesemakers. After several attempts to bring Wisconsin cheese to market in Asia (and just as many failures), David vowed to try something different and Just the Cheese was born.
These keto-friendly bars contain only shredded cheese without any rice or fillers. They sell in a pack of two, and there are several flavors to choose from, including grilled cheese and aged cheddar. When the sharks try the bars, they are surprised by the low calorie count of only 75 calories per bar. Lori Greiner even shares that she has bought them from Amazon before.
Still, the sharks have issues with the company from the beginning. It’s simple, but guest shark Daniel Lubetzky assures David that there are companies already doing this. Despite this, Just the Cheese has some great sales numbers.
They’ve done $3.7 million in sales during the year of filming. They are in 700 retail stores, just cleared some POs with 7/11, and sell on their website and Amazon. Each bar costs them $0.95 to make, and they retail for $1.99. As Kevin O’Leary points out, the 17% – 20% profit margin here is bad.
Despite the bad margins, Kevin makes an offer: $500,000 for $0.20 royalty per bar in perpetuity. He can bring a lot of marketing expertise. Before David can react, Robert Herjavec drops out. He doesn’t like the taste, but he thinks that the entrepreneur has done a great job.
Daniel drops out as well. He thinks that Scharfman has superior branding, but there is no space on the market because there are tons of competitors. Lori Greiner follows, saying that the small equity and competition-heavy field aren’t for her. Mark Cuban is the last to leave the deal, saying that at the proposed valuation, the equity isn’t worth it for him. It’s too much risk, so he drops out.
This leaves Kevin’s offer, and he emphasizes that it’s a no-equity deal. However, this is apparently too much for Lori. She comes back in, offering $500,000 for $0.15 a bar as a perpetual royalty. David asks for a pen and paper so he can do the math. He counters with a $0.05 royalty per bar for ten years.
Lori wants to stay at $0.15 but revises it to be until she recoups $750,000. David argues that this puts too much stress on the business.
In all of the back-and-forth, Mark decides to come back in as well. He offers $500,000 at 15% equity, with no royalty. Lori drops out after this, and David immediately declines Kevin’s offer.
He counters Mark for 7.5% equity, but Mark refuses. David finally says that he just can’t do it, so he leaves the tank without a deal. Could this have been a missed opportunity for the sharks? Keep reading our
Just the Cheese has been featured in the New York Times, The Boston Globe, Food Network, Today, and a host of other publications. When it appeared on the show, Just the Cheese was just getting into 7/11 stores nationwide, but now you can find Just the Cheese on their website, Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
Our Just the Cheese update research discovered that the company is slated to do more than $4 million in annual sales in 2021. While that’s not a huge jump for the company, it’s still an improvement!
You can find the other company updates from Season 11 Episode 19 here:
Don’t forget to take a look at our Season 11 products page! We’ve got more company updates from
