Plastic bags and glass containers are a common way to store leftover food in the fridge, but these things aren’t designed to solve this problem. That’s why you often end up wasting food. To avoid this, Jack and Michelle Sandowski created the Souper Cubes silicone compartment tray and landed a deal with Lori Greiner on Shark Tank. As of 2024, Souper Cubes is valued at $8 million.
Founder
Jack and Michelle Sandowski are from Los Angeles. They both hold Masters and PhD degrees in their respective fields. Jack graduated from Caltech in Electrical Engineering and his wife graduated from UCLA.
Jake started his career as a researcher at Intel Security and later rose to product manager. Two years later, he joined Vectra AI as a senior product manager.
Michelle started as a staff member at UC Berkeley and later became a teacher at Mastery Charter Schools. She later worked at Stanford University, Seeds of Peace, and UCLA.
Founding Souper Cubes
When they were still dating, Michelle was eager to find a more organized way to store soup. She used ice cube trays, but they were not large enough, so Jack suggested they make their own trays.
Souper Cubes hit the market in 2017. They are blue silicone freezer trays with lids, and the founders created four different portion sizes.
The couple funded the startup with their own money and worked with various partners for distribution. The products are available in all Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma stores in the U.S. With this, they had revenue of $940,000 in 2019.
Shark Tank
Although the company was on track to reach its $3 million goal by 2021, Jack and Michelle still wanted help making big decisions. Producers of Shark Tank contacted them, and the couple agreed to apply. They appeared on Season 12 and asked for $400,000 in return for a 5% stake.
All the sharks liked the product, but their interest grew when the entrepreneurs started talking about sales. Soon a battle broke out among the sharks for a share of the business. Cuban also liked the name of the business.
Kevin O’Leary made the first offer, but Barbara Corcoran challenged him to a duel. However, both fell silent when Lori Greiner produced her “golden ticket,” which she only gave once a season. Lori offered $400,000 for 5% of the shares, and the deal was accepted.
Sales after Shark Tank
Souper Cubes, which grossed a whopping $938,000 in just 24 hours after appearing on Shark Tank, had to stop taking orders after its inventory sold out before the latest shipment arrived at its warehouse.
The silicone trays are available online at Amazon and SouperCubes.com. They are now available in stores like Sur La Table, Bed Bath & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma, and Crate & Barrel. Increasing retail sales is key to driving growth, as they rely heavily on Amazon for the majority of their revenue.
Souper Cubes is doing a thriving business, with business all over the world. Recently, they have introduced more options and sizes to meet customer demand. Souper Cubes has breast milk freezer trays, cookie trays, and ceramic baking trays. These patents are still pending, so hopefully other companies won’t copy them.
According to SharkTankRecap.com, the company has an annual revenue of approximately $3 million and total sales of $14 million. Therefore, the company is valued at $8 million. Lowry has once again invested in another big winner and is one of the most successful investors on the show.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
