Busy people tend to opt for food that’s fast and accessible but often unhealthy. Simply Good Jars is a different kind of fast food. They are healthy salads in a jar to eat on the go. Founder Jared Cannon, pitched the product on Shark Tank and made a deal with Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban. As of 2022, Simply Good Jars is worth $6 million.
About the Founder
Jared Cannon is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and trained as a chef at The Culinary Institute of America. He has a bachelor’s degree in restaurant management from Florida International University and an MBA from Temple University.
The Pennsylvania native started his career as a line cook at Outback Steakhouse and Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. In 2005, he became the lead cook in Bistro 821. A year later, he joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
He was then hired to be a sous chef in Stratos Restaurant Group and FS Food Group. In 2012, he returned to Iron Hill as an executive chef, a position he later held at Di Bruno Bros and Tria.
Establishing the Company
Cannon served as the CEO of Sapor Food Group in 2013. In 2015 he was recruited to be the district manager of the restaurant chain Honeygrow. Two years later, he founded his own company, Simply Good Jars.
After getting a $1,000 loan, he came up with a range of tasty salads in reusable jars. The containers can be returned to a partner store, which will prompt the business to donate a meal to the hungry.
The founder got his product into vending machines and coolers in areas with high foot traffic. In 2019, he made $300,000 in sales and $475,000 the following year. When the pandemic hit, he shifted the business model and started selling in convenience stores.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2021, Jared Cannon’s startup was losing around $900,000 every year. However, he believed that with enough capital, things could turn around. He appeared on season 12 of Shark Tank, offering $500,000 for 7% equity. By this time Jared only had 51% ownership and would lose majority control if he got a deal.
Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner were the ones who first expressed faith in Jared’s vision. The two Sharks joined forces and proposed a $500,000 loan at 9.5% interest and 7% equity.
After a discussion about getting help from more outside investors, Cuban said the company didn’t need more funding. He asked Lori to join him in offering $500,000 cash for 10%. Lori agreed to cut Kevin out of the deal, and Jared accepted the offer.
After Shark Tank
After the Shark Tank episode aired, it received more than 750,000 inquiries. The salad company’s sales also grew by 1,500%. Sadly, the deal with Mark and Lori still never closed as reported by Sharktankblog.com. As the saying goes, “you don’t win friends with salad”, the same can be said for Sharks!
Nevertheless, Jared took Mark’s advice to stop raising money and focus on sales. This helped his business strike an agreement with convenience store Wawa and delivery service GoPuff. The jarred salads can also be bought on their website SimplyGoodJars.com.
With mostly five-star reviews on Facebook and Google, Simply Good Jars is doing fine on its own. Sales for 2021 was between $700,000 and $750,000. According to konaequity.com, Simply Good Jars is now making $4.529 million in annual revenue.
The business is worth an estimated $6 million but is still losing money. The best case scenario is getting acquired by a larger company, similar to how Plated was bought by Albertsons for $300 million.
