Here's What Happened To Nature's Wild Berry After Shark Tank
"Shark Tank" fans won't have a hard time remembering the Season 14 episode Nature's Wild Berry appeared on for several reasons — for one because four of the five sharks were all trying to entice entrepreneurs Hank Watt and Juliano Bonanni with deals. Another because of Watt's assertion that the berries, which make anything taste sweet after eating them, helped him lose 80 pounds. According to Research and Markets, the global weight loss products and services market was worth $254.9 billion in 2021 and is only expected to keep growing, so Watt's claim immediately intrigued the sharks.
According to Watt, he was an emotional eater whose biggest obstacle was sweets. Bonanni introduced Watt to Ledidi berries, also known as miracle berries. The berries contain a glycoprotein that binds to your taste receptors, making anything taste sweet after eating them. "He [Bonanni] made me a super healthy juice and took a sip. He made the bitter-looking face. I ate a berry and took a sip. I couldn't believe it... it was so sweet!" Watt told Just Go Grind. "I started making a liter of this juice every day and lost 60 [pounds] in about six months."
The friends started Nature's Wild Berry in 2016, with Bonanni telling the sharks that he invested $20,000 while Watt invested $120,000 in the venture. Their intention was to take the berries mainstream and help others who, like Watt, struggled with eating healthier foods because they don't like the taste.
They agreed to a deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner
Hank Watt and Juliano Bonanni began their "Shark Tank" presentation with a bit of theater, as Watt ate a lemon and Bonanni asked him what kind of fruit could possibly make a lemon taste sweet. After explaining what the Ledidi berry does, they put a variety of sour and tart foods in front of the sharks. After eating the freeze-dried berries, the sharks were amazed when the pickles tasted sweet and the lemons tasted like oranges.
When Watt and Bonanni told Kevin 'Mr. Wonderful' O'Leary that Nature's Wild Berry was projected to make $340,000 that year, O'Leary questioned them about the number of competitors they had. Watt and Bonanni insisted their competition was low due to the difficulty in growing the berries, but they got lucky by finding a buyer in the U.S. While the entrepreneurs were looking for $80,000 for 15% of their business, O'Leary offered $80,000 for 33%, plus a $5 per unit royalty until he earned back twice his investment. Daymond John jumped as well, offering $80,000 for 30% and no royalty.
O'Leary quickly countered, leaving the royalty in place but changing his investment to 20% for $80,000. Lori Greiner also offered the same terms as O'Leary, but with a 3% royalty until she earned back the $80,000. Watt and Bonanni are torn but agreed to a deal when Mark Cuban decided to team up with Greiner.
They were out of stock for two months after their episode aired
While it won't go down as one of "Shark Tank's" biggest food deals, the fact that the majority of sharks were vying for it makes Nature's Wild Berry memorable. In their after-show interview, Hank Watt teared up talking about the deal. "It's been six years, and it's been a very long journey to get here, and we've traveled through so many obstacles," he told Food Business News. "But now we're here, and we got the deal, and it's all worth it." According to the Shark Tank Blog, Nature's Wild Berry sold out immediately after its May 5th "Shark Tank" episode premiered. According to Crunchbase, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner are currently the only two investors in the company.
As of now, the Travel Jar, which contains 25 – 30 servings, is sold for $27.99 on Nature's Wild Berry's website as well as on Amazon. The company offers several different-sized packages, with the most inexpensive item being a single packet with two servings for $3.99, and their priciest a 280-serving jar for $159.97. While it has yet to release any new products, it still has a "Shark Tank" special for a 50-serving bag that costs $24.99.
The company hasn't given any clue about what's next
Some have commented on a "Shark Tank" subreddit that they don't see the product as anything but a novelty item. "[It will] blow up for a few months, then everyone moves on and forgets about it," commented one Redditor. But Nature's Wild Berry asserts other uses for the product, such as diabetics who want to taste something sweet and don't want their blood sugar to spike, or those doing chemotherapy who end up with a metallic taste in their mouth from the medication. In an interview with The Healthy Life, Juliano Bonanni pointed out that some people are "using the berry to make their ALS medication taste a lot better after the episode aired. When people are going through a tough time in their life, anything you can have that would make it taste better... that's a big deal."
Bonanni and Hank Watt haven't said what's next for Nature's Wild Berry, and the company's social media accounts don't give any clues either. Its Facebook page has 1,000 followers but hasn't been updated since December 2022. However, it has responded to customers asking about their orders as recently as June. Meanwhile, its TikTok account now has over 68,000 followers but hasn't been updated since February. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Nature's Wild Berry.