Here's What Happened To O'Dang Hummus After Shark Tank
O'Dang Hummus was created by Jesse Wolfe after he got his wisdom teeth taken out and grew tired of eating milkshakes. After realizing every brand carried the same kinds of hummus that he considered bland and boring, he had an idea. "With my cooking background and passion for food, that week I decided to make my own hummus just for myself," he told UCF's The Blackstone LaunchPad.
When his friends and family came to check on his recovery and tried his hummus, they were all blown away by how good it tasted. During that time, Wolfe was attending the University of Central Florida (UCF) with a major in entrepreneurship and business management. One of his professors suggested that he enter The Joust, UCF's entrepreneur competition. Wolfe ended up placing third.
With his success in his university's competition, Wolfe wanted to expand his business by selling his hummus at a local farmer's market in Orlando; however, the waitlist for a booth was around two years. Wolfe took the initiative and brought samples of his O'Dang Hummus straight to the person in charge of the farmer's market, who ended up loving the product so much that they allowed Wolfe to jump the line and open his own stall.
When he came onto "Shark Tank," the Sharks loved Wolfe and his hummus, plus the new salad dressings he also offered. Everyone but Barbara Corcoran wanted to offer him a deal, leaving Wolfe in an unexpected but thrilling position.
O'Dang Hummus made a deal with two investors
Jesse Wolfe's road from the farmer's market to asking the Sharks for $50,000 in exchange for a 10% stake in O'Dang Hummus was a short one. Only eight months after creating his business plan, a friend of Wolfe's told him that "Shark Tank" was in town and suggested he audition. He showed up at 3:00 a.m. for an 11:00 a.m. audition and was shocked when they called two weeks later, asking if he wanted to continue. "I'm driving, I'm on a 4-way pass, and I just start crying," he recalled to Ambitious.
The 2015 episode got off to a great start for Wolfe, with Mark Cuban proclaiming "That black bean stuff is the ****!" Only Barbara Corcoran was skeptical, telling Wolfe that she thought he was naive and "underestimating" how expensive it would be to get into grocery stores.
Robert Herjavec liked O'Dang Hummus so much, he was willing to make it his first food investment, offering him $50,000 for a 15% stake. Kevin O'Leary threw in his hat next, offering $50,000 for 20% and telling Wolfe he had a lot more experience in the food business. Next, Lori Greiner jumped in, joining Herjavec with a joint offer of $50,000 for 25%. After Wolfe countered with 20%, Mark Cuban reminded him that he was still in. But before Cuban could make an offer, Wolfe took Greiner and Herjavec up on their proposal.
The company continued to expand into more grocery stores
"You blew it," Mark Cuban called out after Jesse Wolfe agreed to partner with Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner, revealing to Barbara Corcoran that he was going to offer him $100,000 for 25%. In his post-episode interview, Wolfe said "It means the world. ... I quit my job, you know, and cashed in my retirement and stuff, and I've worked so hard to get to this very point. There's no better feeling on earth. You can't buy this."
After appearing on "Shark Tank", Wolfe said on the 10 Minute Entrepreneur podcast that the deal with the pair never actually went through. While he said there were many reasons it fell apart, one of the biggest had to do with the Sharks wanting to take O'Dang Hummus onto QVC, while Wolfe wanted to bring the product to grocery stores.
Even without their help and financing, O'Dang Hummus' oil-free, plant-based hummus and chickpea-based salad dressings took off after the episode aired. "We definitely experienced a production shock and went through some growing pains right at the beginning... 'Shark Tank' probably came a year too early," he told Valencia College News. More stores continued to pick up the product, including Walmart, Whole Foods, Publix, Kroger, and Hy-Vee. While O'Dang experimented with new recipes like Salsa and Caramel Apple Crisp Hummus dips, it was having more success with salad dressings, so that's where the focus shifted.
Wolfe left when another company bought the business
By 2019, O'Dang's salad dressing lineup consisted of Honey Mustard, Ranch, Greek Tzatziki, Caesar, and Roasted Red Pepper. Eventually, its packaging changed so "Hummus Dressing" was more prominent on the label. Caesar dressing became Lemon Caesar, Ranch dressing became Garden Herb Ranch and two new flavors, Balsamic Feta and Classic Mediterranean, were added to the list. By 2020 the packaging labels were updated again, and O'Dang Hummus began selling an egg-free mayo made from aquafaba, aka chickpea liquid. Cucumber Dill and Lemon Garlic varieties were introduced first, but it wasn't long before Roasted Red Pepper appeared, followed by a plain Original flavor.
Available to buy in stores and online at the O'Dang Hummus website, the business appeared to be thriving, with its Facebook page listing 21,000 followers. But a major change had taken place behind the scenes that most customers didn't know about. Wolfe left the company in January 2020. "O'Dang was at a place where I could've stayed and I could have kept it going," he said on the Lunch with Biggie podcast. "But they [his investors] basically gave me an ultimatum which was, 'stay and do as they say, or don't.'" Leaving was devastating for him, but he knew that staying after his company was acquired by a new company would've been just as hard.
O'Dang Hummus is now O'dang Foods
The Facebook page for O'Dang Hummus stayed the same after the company was acquired, but after May 2022 the website abruptly stopped posting, with a new page appearing called O'dang Foods. It seems many of the salad dressing and mayo company's fans weren't aware of the change, as the new page only has 64 followers — much different from the 21,000 listed on the original Facebook Page. Similarly, O'dang Foods' Instagram page has barely over 200 followers.
O'dang Foods currently offers seven salad dressings and four mayos, and customers can create their own 4-pack for $29.99 on O'dang's website. Available options for the mayo are Lemon Garlic and Original, while the dressing comes in Greek Tzatziki, Honey Mustard, Lemon Caesar, Balsamic Feta, and Roasted Red Pepper. The customer reviews are mostly positive, though a few people have complaints about shipping problems and a lack of communication.
O'dang Foods' current CEO is Eric Hintz, who hasn't spoken about any innovations in new products, but did say in a press release that he believes the uniqueness of O'dang Foods' mayos and salad dressings "are sure to contribute to the expansion and growth of the O'dang Foods brand."