Bantam Bagels: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank
One thing that unites all New Yorkers (and probably the rest of the country, too) is the unabashed love of a good bagel. Whether it's loaded with lox, white fish salad, egg and cheese, or a healthy layer of schmear, a fresh bagel accompanied by a hot coffee poured into a Mediterranean blue Anthora paper cup is something even the grumpiest New Yorker can smile about.
The average bagel is pretty substantial, but what if it was adorable and bite sized? What if you didn't have to deal with cream cheese oozing out all over the place? In 2013, wife and husband entrepreneurs Elyse and Nick Oleksak set out to do just that with Bantam Bagels. Nick told the sharks that the idea for these New York bagel-inspired bites stuffed with cream cheese was actually something that he literally dreamed up. Now, he and his wife just needed the sharks to make all their business dreams come true.
How did the Oleksaks pitch Bantam Bagels?
The pair were on an episode of "Shark Tank" that aired in January 2015, and asked for $275,000 for 11% equity in Bantam Bagels. They started by selling the bagel bites retail and said that revenues were stellar. After a visit to their West Village shop, Oprah Winfrey herself included Bantam Bagels, especially the pretzel bagel with Dijon cheddar cream cheese, on her 2014 list of "Oprah's Favorite Things." However, the profit margin was not so great. They needed to expand and sell their product in a more cost-effective way — wholesale. When Bantam Bagels appeared on "Shark Tank," the company's largest client was QVC.
Here's where things seemed to get a little touchy. Robert Herjavec questioned how much they really needed the investment since they both had Wall Street backgrounds. In fact, at the time, Nick was still working in investment banking. Herjavec said, "They're trying too many things." To this Elyse responded that they were "coachable" and would happily take guidance from the sharks. Mark Cuban, an investor in other food products pitched on "Shark Tank" like The Painted Pretzel, took issue with the amount of direction they would need to be successful and felt he was not a good fit.
Who took a bite out of Bantam Bagels?
With Herjavec and Cuban out of the picture, Barbara Corcoran came in with an offer for $275,000, but in exchange for a whopping 51% stake, insisting that they would fail without her help. Next, Kevin O'Leary made an offer of $275,000 for an only marginally better 50% stake with three requirements — Nick resign from his day job, they lease appropriate commercial kitchen space, and finally, open a sales channel to sell directly to customers.
Elyse and Nick were visibly disappointed and apparently so was Lori Greiner who exclaimed, "That makes no sense!" and proceeded to make an offer of $275,000 for 30% equity. Elyse countered with a 25% stake to which Greiner said, speaking over Corocran who quickly tried to dial it back and match the 30% equity offer, "I would if you decide right now with me." Greiner pulled a similar move in an episode of "Shark Tank" featuring FunBites. It looks like Corcoran had more confidence in Bantam Bagels than she originally let on, but Greiner deftly sealed the deal.
What happened to Bantam Bagels after Shark Tank?
In the first four months after the episode aired, Bantam Bagels saw $200,000 in sales, and their revenue over four years grew to an impressive $45 million. Lori Greiner called Bantam Bagels "the most explosive food brand that ever came through 'Shark Tank.'" When the company appeared on the show, it had flavors like everything bagel filled with veggie cream cheese, sesame filled with plain cream cheese, and a French toast flavor – a cinnamon and nutmeg spiced egg bagel filled with maple syrup and butter flavored cream cheese. After the show, the brand expanded its breakfast offerings to include stuffed pancake bites and bagel bites filled with eggs. They even expanded into the snack world with Bantam Pizzas in flavors like Margherita, pepperoni, five cheese, and supreme.
In 2018, Elyse and Nick Oleksak sold Bantam Bagels to the T. Marzetti Company for $34 million, and the two entrepreneurs were able to stay on in management and creative capacities. The acquisition brought a huge chunk of change for both the former business owners and Lori Greiner, with her investment resulting in around an $8.5 million payout.
What is Bantam Bagels up to these days?
With all that success, you would think that Bantam Bagels would still be cranking out their bite-sized creations, but that's unfortunately not the case. In May 2022, Lancaster Colony, the parent company of T. Marzetti, made the decision to say goodbye to the Bantam Bagels brand for good. The main driver of the choice was poor financial performance due to pandemic-related factors like the cost of "raw materials, packaging, freight and labor, coupled with restructuring and impairment charges," notes Baking Business.
Starbucks, who had sold Bantam Bagels nationwide since 2016, decided to discontinue the product precisely because of that same pandemic pressure and decreased store traffic. It was a hit Bantam Bagels simply couldn't withstand, and Lancaster Colony basically decided to cut its losses.
Bantam Bagels' website is offline, but its Instagram is still up. The most recent post is from April 2022 featuring an array of their bagel bites and is promoting a Mother's Day sale that probably never fully came to fruition. There are several shocked and sad comments with pleas from Bantam Bagels fans to bring back the product.