Latest news with #JajuPierogi
CNBC
06-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Mark Cuban loved this 'Shark Tank' company—why he declined to invest in it: ‘I have no willpower with stuff like this'
Business owners usually want potential investors to love their products. On Friday's episode of ABC's "Shark Tank," an investor did indeed fall in love with a product — and it kept him from offering a deal. Sisters and co-owners Casey and Vanessa White went on the show to pitch their company, Jaju Pierogi, which sells pre-boiled, flash-frozen Polish dumplings in a variety of flavors. They launched their business in 2016 after dusting off their grandfather's handwritten recipe book from 1960 and "tinkering around" with the recipes, Casey said. The sisters asked the show's investor judges for $300,000, in exchange for an 8% equity stake in their business. The judges tasted the pierogis, and Cuban proclaimed himself a fan. "I grew up on pierogi. ... One of the beauties of pierogi is it's greasy and gooey," he said. "This loaded baked potato [flavor] is greasy and gooey." Cuban's inability to stop eating the pierogi kept him from making an offer, he said: The 66-year-old generally tries to live a healthier lifestyle now than he did in his youth. "This is a great product. I love them," he said. "I ate too many of them, that's part of the problem. I'd balloon to 600 pounds — I have no willpower when it comes to stuff like this, and I'd rather be a customer than an owner." Samples of Jaju Pierogi flavors on ABC's "Shark Tank." Disney/Christopher Willard The White sisters initially bought 40 boxes of their pierogi to test at a market and sold out within an hour, Casey said. At the time of filming, their products were in more than 2,500 grocery stores including Whole Foods, Sprouts and Harris Teeter, and their company was projected to finish the year with $2.7 million in annual sales, they said. However, the company wasn't profitable. "Last year, we lost $100,000," said Casey. "We would have been profitable, but we didn't negotiate for our contract with a large grocery chain like we should have ... I knew [in the] middle of last year that we were going to run out of cash, so that was the first time we had to raise money." A slim profit margin per item sold didn't help, the investors observed. Each bag of pierogis cost $3.89 to make, $6.33 to distribute and sell for around $10, said the sisters. "You don't have a lot of wiggle room," Cuban said. "You need to knock off 35% of your manufacturing costs," O'Leary added. Lori Greiner declined to make an offer, saying she wasn't the right fit for the product. Daniel Lubetzky said he'd already invested in a company called Toast-It, which sells frozen arepas and is also owned by a sister duo, and he considered Jaju Pierogi to be too much of a competitor. Robert Herjavec said he loved the pierogi samples, but didn't want to make an offer without Lubetzky, who has ample experience in the food industry. O'Leary offered the sisters $300,000 for a 20% equity stake, but only if Jaju agreed to join forces with his manufacturing company, which he said helped give him "vertical strength" with another dumpling company in his investment portfolio. Casey and Vanessa countered with $300,000 for 10%. O'Leary rejected the counteroffer, and the sisters walked away without making a deal. "Maybe one of the Sharks will call us back one day and regret not making that deal," Vanessa said. Want a new career that's higher-paying, more flexible or fulfilling? Take CNBC's new online course How to Change Careers and Be Happier at Work . Expert instructors will teach you strategies to network successfully, revamp your resume and confidently transition into your dream career. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $67 (+taxes and fees) through May 13, 2025. Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.
Los Angeles Times
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Will there be eggs for Easter? Substitutes are reaching peak weird
With a bird-flu-induced egg shortage that has caused prices to skyrocket — and consumers, for lack of a better word, to scramble — the term 'egg hunting' takes on new meaning this Easter. But will the dearth really have an impact on the pastel-hued spring holiday? According to the internet, where baskets of dyed Yukon Gold potatoes abound, the answer is yes. 'I think I'm going to ask my guests to bring [their own] eggs this year,' says Molly Page of South Pasadena, who hosts a yearly Ukrainian egg-dyeing party for her friends and children. Many parents are giving up on dyeing real eggs entirely, and some have taken to TikTok, posting videos of their kids coloring potatoes to the tune of 'It's the Hard-Knock Life' while others open up egg cartons to reveal a dozen decorated marshmallows, golf balls and other egg alternatives. Jet-Puffed marshmallow brand launched 'Dip and Decorate' Easter marshmallow dyeing kits. For $1.99 at Walmart, the kits include a 24-ounce bag of jumbo marshmallows, six dye colors, two flavored drizzles, tongs and three food-safe markers in a pink egg crate labeled 'Farm Fresh Marshmallows.' Massachusetts-based company Jaju Pierogi posted a video of its pierogies submerged in Easter dye, proof that no one is immune to jumping on the bandwagon. Though potato decorating seems the most widespread, there's little consistency to the trend. Potato varieties range from peewee to large russet to Yukon Gold or even red-skinned ones. Some recommend peeling them first. It's unclear if they should be boiled. Others are dyeing them with the skin on, while some are using paint, cutting the potatoes in half and carving out one of their sides in stripes, polka dots, flowers or zigzags to be painted in pastel colors and stamped, resulting in Easter egg-looking art. The results are sometimes pleasing. Nationwide, the egg crisis has caused the price of a dozen eggs to hit a record high of $6.23, while here in Los Angeles the price has reached over $12 per dozen in some stores. That's if they are even in stock. For the same price you can buy 50 colorful plastic eggs or, for slightly more, 30 very realistic-looking white plastic eggs. Terranea resort in Palos Verdes will be using the latter for its annual Easter egg-decorating event held for a guests-only kids' club. They have used real eggs every year prior, though a resort representative said the process of using real eggs was 'time-consuming and the children were most excited to head outside for the spoon races and other festive activities.' Egg decorating isn't the only Easter conundrum for which potatoes have come to the rescue. Eggs are also usually at the center of the holiday's brunch table, poached, fried, hard-boiled or, the best way, deviled. Thankfully the internet is delivering on that front as well, with plenty of deviled potato recipes circulating. The most popular of these comes from 'PlantYou' cookbook author Carleigh Bodrug, who says in an Instagram video, 'No eggs!? No problem!' before boiling mini potatoes, scooping out the middle of each one; mashing it with vegan mayonnaise, mustard and chives; and piping it back in. Bodrug, who has over 10 million followers across her social-media platforms, was excited to use the egg shortage as an opportunity to encourage her audience to swap in a vegan recipe. 'People are very concerned about the price of eggs, so it's a great catalyst to get people to try a plant-based recipe,' says Bodrug. 'If you look at a deviled-egg recipe, you need so many eggs for it. Who can afford to buy several dozen eggs at this time? It's a perfect affordable replacement.' Bodrug, who got into plant-based cooking for health reasons, is also an advocate for sustainability with her second cookbook, 'PlantYou: Scrappy Cooking,' which promotes a plant-based, zero-waste approach. This concept is relevant, as the rapidness with which the avian flu has spread, is in part due to factory farming, which has led us here to an eggless, potato-filled Easter. 'Factory farming, in and of itself, is such a major driver of climate change,' says Bodrug. 'So whenever we can make a shift to a more sustainable crop, like making a shift from eggs to potatoes, we're not only doing a great thing, likely for our health but for the planet as well, and then the chickens, if you're going to look at it from an animal advocacy perspective.' As a vegan, Bodrug didn't previously have an egg-dyeing tradition. But as she is expecting her first child, she's already contemplating her future Easter projects and suggests, 'You could paint rocks!'
