Uprising Food Update | Shark Tank Season 13

The problem with most gluten-free and low-carb breads was that they didn’t taste good. To fix this, William and Kristen Schumacher created Uprising Food, a cube-shaped bread that is low in carbs, gluten-free, and still full of flavor. It gave people on keto or gluten-free diets a bread they could actually enjoy. Now the question is, will the sharks take a slice of the opportunity? Let’s find out in our Uprising Food update and pitch recap.

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to Uprising Food after Shark Tank.

Kristen and William pitched their wholesome superfood bread and chips on Shark Tank Season 13. They sought $500,000 for 3% equity. Unfortunately, they left without a deal.

In terms of an Uprising Food update, the company expanded into chips, bundles, and even branded aprons, but high costs made the business unsustainable. Unfortunately, Uprising Food shut down, and some customers later claimed they were charged without receiving products.

Shark	Result
Kevin O’Leary	No offer
Barbara Corcoran	No offer
Lori Greiner	No offer
Emma Grede	No offer
Mark Cuban	No offer

Shark Tank Uprising Food Pitch

• Entrepreneur: Kristen and William Schumacher
• Business: Bread and chips packed with superfoods
• Ask: $500,000 for 3% equity
• Result: No deal
• Shark: None

Husband and wife duo William and Kristen jumped right into their Uprising Foods pitch and immediately grabbed the attention of the sharks.

Their Ohio-based company claimed to make healthy, paleo, and keto-friendly bread that tasted “straight out of heaven.”

William noted that his sick father, once switching to their product, made a seemingly miraculous gut recovery.

During the taste test, the sharks noted that the bread was actually really good and lived up to the heavenly description.

Kevin O’Leary commented on the chewiness and sponge-like quality of the bread, which William chalked up to a specifically designed “mouth feel.”

While impressed with the taste, Kevin dove right in, asked for the hard numbers, and directly questioned their proposed $16.6 million valuation.

Kristen and William shared that a half loaf (or cube) of bread costs $5.25 to make and sells for $12 on their website. After shipping, they only made $3.

Even worse, it was costing them $50 to acquire a customer. This meant that they needed to sell a lot of bread to each customer before they could turn a profit.

Despite the hefty overhead, in 2020, Uprising Food did just under $1 million in sales. In the first six months of 2021, they sold $2.1 million worth of bread and chips.

Unfortunately, the company was not cash flow positive despite high sales and had lost $1 million in the last 12 months.

William shared that they didn’t expect to turn a profit in the near future and that their ultimate goal was to sell off the business to a bigger brand or take the company public.

Even though they had an impressive product, Uprising Food’s inability to show profitability scared the sharks away.

Barbara Corcoran was the first to decline, noting that the couple threw around a lot of fancy marketing terms and that she didn’t see their business as a safe place for her money.

Lori Greiner was next to bow out. She shared that while she did see the potential in the on-trend healthy food products, their financial ask was just too big.

Kevin mentioned the astronomical potential valuation that would have been necessary for him to see a return on his investment, and went out.

Guest shark and self-professed foodie Emma Grede pointed out that even though the product was good, the couple failed to showcase a path to profitability.

Mark Cuban had a lot of reasons for saying no, most importantly that they had dug themselves into a hole and were losing money with every sale.

Despite being “driven nuts” by their overuse of jargon, he advised them to simplify their sales pitch, focusing on what made the product unique.

In the end, all five sharks passed on the deal, leaving the couple without an offer.

Keep reading our Uprising Food update to find out what happened next for their company.

Shark Tank Uprising Food Update

According to our Uprising Food update, we found that on the night the episode aired, the company still got a big spike in attention.

In a press release, they said customers loved the taste and their “superfood bakery” concept.

Orders came in, and they quickly expanded their product line to include superfood chips, product bundles, and even branded aprons.

For a while, things looked promising. The brand got buzz for solving the “healthy bread” problem, and new customers kept coming in. But behind the scenes, the costs were heavy.

And unfortunately March 28th, 2023, Uprising Food shut down. The website went dark (the link now redirects to another domain entirely).

Another sad thing we discovered was that some customers reported that they were charged but never received products. Many only got an automated reply telling them to dispute charges with their banks.

After the business closed, the founders went in different directions.

William has been a partner at Fresh Dew Co., a marketing firm serving ruckus makers.

Kristen is a Customer Service Manager at Scratchpad, a company that helps sales teams manage pipelines and forecasts.

Their baking partners, Mark and Sara Frommeyer, continue to run Blue Oven Bakery in Cincinnati, keeping their artisan bread business going strong.

You can also check out what’s left of Uprising’s community on Facebook.

Unfortunately, this marks the end of our Uprising Food update.

Before you go, be sure to check out more company updates from Shark Tank Season 13 Episode 1:

• Kin Apparel Update
• Lion Latch Update
• Pashko Apparel Update

For more on Shark Tank Season 13, be sure to check out our Season 13 products page.