I found most of the pitches interesting (I was not very into the ski helmet) but was most drawn to the Yum Crumbs pitch, for a few reasons. The product itself seemed pretty great (and baked goods and ice cream seem unlikely to suddenly stop being in demand!). As a b2b business in particular, I thought it was in great shape, with a significant contract already with Wawa (only waiting for expanded capacity at Yum Crumbs to be able to order more) and multiple other cake shops and ice cream shops already on board. The convenience for small businesses in particular to easily change up their offerings through this one product is a strong selling point. But it’s fair to say that my strongest pull to this pitch was due to the family story and energy in the pitch and the origin story of Delson going from store to store pitching the Yum Crumbs.

As presented to the sharks, the main focus was on the ability of Yum Crumbs to be marketed to cake and ice cream shops as a way to bring easy variety to their offerings. Because Yum Crumbs has 30+ flavors, and there are not many existing sprinkle/topping flavor options available outside of Yum Crumbs, so the gap is clear and should be profitable to address. As one of the sharks pointed out, it should be significantly cheaper and easier for bakeries etc. to utilize Yum Crumbs versus having to make their own toppings. Small businesses in particular should feel a strong need to utilize this product to expand their flavor options.

I think the website is the best positioning for retail consumers (and noted that Yum Crumbs, along with The Fidget Game, has already updated their website to include “Shark Tank Bundles” and splash ads), and likely would not want to expend significantly more money on anything past that space given that their main market is small businesses. For marketing to small business bakeries and ice cream shops, I think getting involved in national food and beverage industry conferences is a strong way to market, investing in a solid salesforce (ideally all people with sales skills on par with Delson, who I think is particularly skilled!) and a high number of demos. Additionally, the door-to-door approach should be continued for another year or two – so far it has worked very well and expanding that network with face-to-face interaction I think is a strong investment for Yum Crumbs. Of course, the effect of being on Shark Tank alone with bring a boost of attention and sales for Yum Crumbs, and following up on that utilizing direct marketing (an email newsletter or some other alert of seasonal flavors I think would be especially effective) with help keep that boost going.