OatMeals Restaurant Update | Shark Tank Season 10
In college, Sam Stephens gained weight from eating too much junk food and needed something healthier that didn’t cost much. So she started making oatmeal in her dorm. It was cheap, filling, and easy to mix with other things.
Years later, that simple fix became OatMeals, a café that serves oatmeal in all kinds of creative ways. Will any of them eat up the concept and give Sam an investment? Let’s find out in our OatMeals update and pitch recap.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to OatMeals after
Sam pitched her oatmeal-based company on
In terms of an OatMeals update, plans to franchise the café fell through. However, Sam kept the New York location running until January 2021, when the business shut down due to pandemic-related losses.
| Shark: | Result: |
| Lori Greiner | Accepted deal for $500,000 for 33.3% equity |
| Barbara Corcoran | $500,000 for 50% equity |
| Daymond John | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
Shark Tank OatMeals Pitch
- Entrepreneur: Sam Stephens
- Business: Oatmeal restaurant
- Ask: $500,000 for 20% equity
- Result: $500,000 for 33.3% equity
- Shark: Lori Greiner
Sam brought her oatmeal-based restaurant business to
OatMeals, her New York City café, was built around one thing—oatmeal.
She kicked off her pitch with a quick history of oatmeal as a staple food and then showed off several of her own oatmeal creations.
Each dish came with different toppings, both sweet and savory. She served the sharks samples to taste.
The sharks were surprised. Daymond John admitted he didn’t even like oatmeal, but called her dishes delicious.
Lori Greiner also praised them for being flavorful and unlike anything she had tasted before.
Kevin O’Leary inquired about nutritional values, learning that plain servings ranged from 110 to 180 calories, depending on size.
Sam said prices started at $4.25 for the smallest bowl and went up to $6.25 for the largest. Each bowl includes two toppings, with extras priced at $0.25 to $0.50.
Kevin wanted to know about her business model. Sam clarified that she runs one small store, just 380 square feet, but wants to open more in New York.
Barbara Corcoran inquired about her background; Sam shared her transition from finance to culinary entrepreneurship.
In terms of profitability, Sam reported $2.5 million in sales over six years. She expected $500,000 in the current year.
The previous year, she did $470,000 with $45,000 in profit after paying herself $40,000.
Barbara expressed concern over Sam’s personal earnings, to which Sam responded that she also earned $60,000 annually as Quaker Oats’ “Creative Oatmeal Officer.”
Lori asked about retail opportunities; Sam confirmed interest in packaging her meals for stores.
Kevin was the first to bow out. He didn’t believe people would eat oatmeal three times a day and felt the revenue wasn’t enough to scale.
Daymond also passed, saying it would take too long to get a return. Robert Herjavec followed next.
However, Lori offered $500,000 for 33.3% equity, and also pledged that she would try to get her oatmeal into companies like Starbucks.
Barbara offered the same amount for 50% of a food cart version, although the money had to be exclusively used for expanding the cart business.
After some back and forth, Sam finally decided to accept Lori’s offer.
Do you think the two were eventually able to take OatMeals to new heights? Keep reading our OatMeals update to find out.
Shark Tank OatMeals Update
Our OatMeals update found that the deal with Lori never closed. She planned to help franchise the café, but it didn’t happen.
Despite this, Sam kept running the New York City location, offering oatmeal bowls with over 80 toppings.
In 2020, the pandemic hit, and business dropped. Our OatMeals update found that the physical store permanently closed on January 24, 2021, due to financial strain.
After the shutdown, Sam shifted online. She shared oatmeal recipes, sold granola, and kept the community engaged.
In addition to food content, she took on a new role as Director of Mobile Marketing at Alliance Marketing Partners.
At the time of writing, you can still buy OatMeals Signature Granola through the website, but there are no physical locations open.
While things haven’t grown much, it’s great to see that Sam is still pursuing her passion! If we get any more news, we will be back for another OatMeals update!
You can find the other company updates from Season 10 Episode 7 below:
Before you go, be sure to check out our list of all the Shark Tank Season 10 products.
Jeremy is a regular contributor at Shark Tank recap. He has a ton of passion for the show and enjoys researching information about what all the companies are up to now. His favorite Shark Tank companies are The Cookie Dough Cafe and Kronos Golf!