Modern Picnic Lunch Tote Update | Shark Tank Season 15
Entrepreneur Ali Kaminetsky pitched her lunch tote brand during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to Modern Picnic after
Ali Kaminetsky appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Robert Herjavec | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Emma Grede | No offer |
Shark Tank Modern Picnic Update
- Entrepreneurs: Ali Kaminetsky
- Business:Â Fashionable lunchboxes
- Ask:Â $400,000 for 6.5% equity
- Result:Â No deal
- Shark:Â None
Ali Kaminetsky was a busy professional in New York City, without a fashionable way to carry her lunch to work. When she couldn’t find what she wanted, she created her own lunch tote line called Modern Picnic.
Modern Picnic lunchboxes are fashionable, insulated bags, and made using vegan leather. The line has many different sizes, like The Snacker, The Luncher, The Tote, and The Backpack, which come in various sizes and color options.
Additionally, Modern Picnic also sells food containers, which fit perfectly inside the lunch boxes. The Luncher costs $159, with a 30-35% profit margin.
Further, 70% of Ali’s sales are e-commerce, and 20% are from wholesale orders. She proudly tells the sharks that her products are sold in Saks, The Container Store, and she just got her vendor number for Bloomingdales.
In terms of sales, she’s done just under $6 million YTD, from over 40,000 units sold. She launched the company in 2018, and during the current year of filming, she projects just over $2 million in sales.
However, with that, she anticipates losing just under $100,000 from a profitability standpoint. When the sharks press for answers on why she isn’t making money, she says that about 25% of profits are spent on advertising.
As the sharks continue to press, Ali then reveals that she actually spends about 50% on marketing, when you include brand building, which alarms the sharks.
In terms of investments in the company, she cold-called over 1,500 investors and was able to secure $900,000 for her company. Then, did a seed round, and raised an additional $900,000.
Kevin O’Leary doesn’t want to invest in a fashion line, therefore, he ultimately goes out.
Mark Cuban advises Ali to have more confidence in her product, and back off of advertising. With that, he also goes out.
Robert Herjavec thinks Ali’s presentation was great, but he doesn’t think the numbers make sense. For this reason, he goes out too.
Lori Greiner doesn’t like how much Ali raised, because she thinks it’s too much too soon. Because of this, she is also out.
Last but not least, guest shark Emma Grede encourages Ali to stop spending so much on advertising. She says she’ll be a customer, but not an investor, and goes out.
Without any offers from the sharks, Ali is forced to leave
Keep reading our Modern Picnic update to find out!
In terms of a Modern Picnic update, the company received a nice boost in sales after the episode has aired. This tends to be the case with companies that appear on the show!
Since Ali didn’t get a deal, this would hopefully make up for that loss. Her products are available on Amazon, and on the Modern Picnic website, if you’d like to check them out.
With the beautiful products that Modern Picnic offers, we’re sure Ali will be just fine! Hopefully, she’s able to take the advice of the sharks and spend less money on advertising now that she’s got name recognition from the show to help bring up her profits!
Once the dust settles, we will circle back for another Modern Picnic update to see what Ali is up to!
In the meantime, you can check out our other company updates from Season 15 Episode 13, by following the links below!
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 15 Products Page before you go!
Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!
