Uprising Foods strives relentlessly to ensure that people eat healthy meals as they strive to live a healthy lifestyle. Gluten-free products have become quite popular in recent years and not just among health-conscious people. With that fact in mind, William & Kristen Schumacher, a husband and wife team, set out to bake the ideal gluten-free, low-carb bread.
After around eight months of tweaking their recipe, they thought that they had the ideal bread and hoped to impress the Sharks with their cube-shaped wonder. The Uprising Foods Shark Tank experience happened during season 13. What has happened since then?
The husband & wife team, William & Kristen Schumacher came up with the idea of Uprising Foods as a start-up based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The firm’s primary goal is to market gluten-free and low-carb products.
The most popular product manufactured by the company is a cube-shaped bread that makes for nearly 8 slices and with a total cost of $12 per cube, it puts every slice at an average cost of $1.50. The products are then sold through their website and to interested retailers.
What Makes Uprising Foods Different?
Uprising Foods has one primary goal: to enable Americans to enjoy bread without gluten or guilt. Their bread is packed with superfoods and boasts paleo and keto-friendly. The bread is not only gluten and dairy-free but it can be stored in the fridge for several weeks.
What Happened On Shark Tank?
While the Sharks were highly impressed by the taste and the many claims that the bread can be stored for a long time, things began going haywire when profit margins were discussed.
The husband and wife team shared that while half a bread costs $12 on their website, they just make a $3 profit after shipping. In some cases, it costs an extra $50 to acquire a customer. That, in turn, means that every new customer has to purchase a considerable amount of bread before any real profit is shown.
Despite this specific snag with their product, the Uprising Food Company managed to close 2020 with around $1 million in net sales. For the better part, the firm is not quite cash flow positive. William said that since they do not expect to turn a major profit in the short term, their main goal is to sell the business to a larger brand that can easily offset these costs.
Where Is The Company Today?
Not landing a deal in the Shark Tank has not prevented Uprising Foods from showing significant growth. They are still in business and they operate out of their Cincinnati headquarters. It appears that just appearing on the show managed to boost their popularity and revenues. There is even a special Shark Tank Bundle that is available on their official website.
Despite not getting a deal on Shark Tank, the firm’s profits have increased from $100,000 at the time of the pitch to more than $1.2 million in 2022.