AKRON, Ohio - When Evan Delahanty was invited to pitch his Peaceful Fruits acai-infused fruit strips to the self-made entrepreneurs on the TV show "Shark Tank," he thought he might get a bump of $15,000, maybe $20,000 in sales.
Instead, by the end of this week, "we're going to sell $75,000 worth of fruit snacks," more than eclipsing his sales from 2016, he said. And orders are still streaming in.
"From talking to some people who've appeared on Shark Tank, I know that's exceptional, especially for a food product," he said. "It's been crazy."
Related Plain Dealer stories:Peaceful Fruits founder Evan Delahanty pitches to 'Shark Tank' on Feb. 10
Peaceful Fruits' Kickstarter campaign to raise $10,000 is now over $18,000
Evan Delahanty hopes his Peaceful Fruits acai snacks bring prosperity to his Peace Corps friends in Suriname
Delahanty, a Peninsula native who volunteered with the Peace Corps in Pikin Slee, South America, northeast of Brazil, has been inundated with encouraging emails and voicemails since the episode aired on Feb. 10. He is a graduate of Old Trail School in Bath, Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, and Cornell University.
Mark Cuban told him: "I'm a big believer in social enterprise. I think it's the future of capitalism ... but still, the product has to be compelling."
Lori Greiner agreed, telling him: "Evan, you are a great entrepreneur. The only problem here is your competition in the arena is huge. There are a million fruit snacks out there: strips, rolls, bites ... I think you're fantastic and super-smart, and you're going to make it."
Even though all five "sharks" passed on his offer of 20 percent of his business for $75,000, viewers were moved to hear that he buys his acai berries from the Saramaccan villagers he worked with during the Peace Corps, and that he employs Akron workers with developmental disabilities to make, package and ship his antioxidant-rich fruit strips.
Walking off the set, Delahanty looked into the camera and said: "I didn't get that deal, but I'm still working really hard to make this a success. I'm building Peaceful Fruits to make a difference for the people in Akron and the people in the Amazon, so it's disappointing to not get that immediate bump up today, but I know we're going to get there."
@PeacefulFruits Don't be discouraged. You are on the #right track with a #social business model. pic.twitter.com/4A34OIidQw
-- MValleyPodcast (@MValleyPodcast) February 11, 2017Peaceful Fruits fruit strips:
Flavors: Wild Acai Apple or Pineapple
Each 0.25-ounce strip has 30 to 35 calories, 1.5 grams of fat (0 grams trans fat), 60 mg of potassium, 5 grams of carbohydrates, and 3 grams of natural sugars.
Ingredients (pineapple): Organic acai, organic pineapple, organic pear.
Ingredients (apple): Organic acai, organic apple, organic pear, organic lemon juice.
Price: $1.25 each, or $15 for a 12-pack.
Website: peacefulfruits.com
Retailers: Hattie's Food Hub, 395 Douglas St.; Acme Fresh Market; Krieger's Market; Mustard Seed Market & Cafe; Nature's Bin, Vita Urbana Bistro & Urban Market.
When the show aired in Akron, "We got something like 1,000 orders within the first 10 minutes after our segment went up," he said. "It was amazing. I had my phone in my back pocket, and whenever I got an order, an email popped up, and I got a little buzz."
He got so many orders that his phone was pretty much buzzing all night, he said.
His watch party at Mustard Seed Market & Cafe that night was standing-room only. "It was absolutely packed with some of our best customers, friends and admirers," he said. "People from Hattie's Food Hub, the Blick Center, the Cleveland Culinary Launch Kitchen, and MAGNET. It was pretty cool."
Even without the investments, "I still very much think the experience was a win, because you saw five of the most fiercely cut-throat business people in the world understanding that social enterprise is the future of business," he said. Even Mark Cuban told him he was right.
The downside of getting so many orders at once is that it will take a while to get them out. "We've already added a second shift at Hattie's Food Hub, as well as doubled our staff at both Hattie's and the Blick Center." And he has hired a couple more part-timers to help him run the business.
Delahanty has also pushed back on his plans to launch more flavors in addition to the current apple and pineapple, and to develop acai-infused chocolates.
"We've definitely gotten a huge amount of interest from smaller stores," including Lucky's Market in Columbus. "A grocery store in Austin, Texas, ordered 4,000 snacks before the 'Shark Tank' episode went up, our biggest order to date. They had a watch party and sold out of all of them."
"What you don't see from the show is how much goes into it," Delahanty said. "I've been on 19-hour days since [last] Thursday. You don't see what we've done for weeks and weeks just to get set up" for when the show aired.
He is determined that whatever happens to Peaceful Fruits going forward, that it will remain a sustainable and socially responsible enterprise. "If a General Mills or a [J.M.] Smucker bought me out to make this a $100 million business instead of a $10 million business, they can't abandon the rainforest; they can't abandon the folks at Blick," he said.
We didn't get the deal, but its only a matter of time before you see #peacefulfruits on shelves! Thanks for the opportunity @ABCSharkTank
-- Peaceful Fruits (@PeacefulFruits) February 11, 2017
Until then, "I'm scrambling to put something together to tell folks: 'Give us your patience. We are a small artisan fruit snack company that employs people with disabilities. If we started mass-producing it, then it wouldn't be what you paid for.'"
[Delahanty appears at about 21 minutes into the episode...]
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