Vegan alternatives to traditional meat products are on the rise. One example is Pan’s Mushroom Jerky, which was created as a substitute for beef jerky. Created by Michael Pan, he pitched his product on Shark Tank and got a deal with Mark Cuban. As of 2024, Pan’s Mushroom Jerky is worth $1.7 million.
Michael Pan’s Background
Although Michael Pan is of Malaysian descent, he grew up in Vancouver, Washington. After graduating from Starkville High School, he attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to study electrical and electronics engineering.
He interned as an electrical engineer intern at Motorola and got his bachelor’s degree in 2001. After college, he worked as an electrical engineer at Raymond Professional Group.
Next, he returned to Motorola and was promoted to Design Team Leader. He held the same position when he transferred to Continental in 2006. For over two years, Pan served as the VP of Product at the IT firm Fancred.
Founding Pan’s Mushroom Jerky
One day, the Washington native went to Malaysia to meet several family members. Some of them turned out to be vegetarian Buddhist monks. They introduced Michael to a lot of tasty plant-based food.
However, the electrical engineer was most impressed when he tasted their mushroom jerky recipe that’s been in the family for years. Mushrooms proved to be a great alternative to beef, and contained additional vitamins and antioxidants.
This discovery inspired him to make his own vegan jerky recipe back in the States using shiitake mushrooms. In 2018, Pan’s Mushroom Jerky was launched under Panco Foods and in 2019, the startup made $755,000 in revenue.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2020, Michael Pan appeared on season 12 and offered the Sharks $300,000 for 10% of the company. Around this time, his product was available in 500 stores in the US, but none of them were major brands. Because of this, the entrepreneur needed help getting into the bigger stores.
To get an investment, Michael convinced the Sharks about how his mushroom jerky has a low production cost. He also revealed that his problem was the product’s 10% profit margin. Fortunately, this didn’t seem to bother the Sharks.
Guest Shark Blake Mycoskie joined forces with Lori Greiner to offer $300,000 for 30%. However, Mark Cuban is actually a vegan and was more willing to offer a better deal. He agreed with the entrepreneur’s counter of $300,000 for 18%.
After Shark Tank
Less than a day after appearing on television, the mushroom jerky company made about $650,000 in sales. After a week, the figure rose to a whopping $1 million. They went out of stock on Amazon and their official website, MushroomJerky.com.
They also experienced shipping problems, which slowed down their growth. To resolve this, the business hired more staff and signed partnership deals with retail stores like Walmart, Whole Foods, and Krogers.
Now, Micael’s operations are back at full strength, with over 3,500 retail locations in the country. This helped them make close to $5 million in annual sales. Pan’s Mushroom Jerky is currently valued at an estimated $1.7 million.
