Potato Parcel Found Success on 'Shark Tank' — Latest Update

Over years of creating the reality series Shark Tank, the investors have heard more than their share of strange and unique company concepts. One of the oddest Shark Tank pitches that viewers may recall is Potato Parcel, a company that literally sends messages written on potatoes. How is Potato Parcel doing now? We have the latest update on the company.

The Potato Parcel founders based their Shark Tank pitch on simplicity, which didn't pay off initially but eventually convinced at least one Shark of their company's potential. Find out how well this food-based business concept worked and what its net worth is.

Potato Parcel isn't a business built on any cutting-edge technology or an invention that could make someone's life easier. Instead, it's a unique and surprising concept that has done better than most of the Sharks expected. The company's founder, Alex Craig, came up with the idea in 2015 after seeing a picture of potatoes with stamps on them, according to Shark Tank Blog.

The other main person behind Potato Parcel is Riad Bekhit, an entrepreneur who bought out Alex Craig for $40,000. The basic concept is that people pay to have their customized message written on an actual potato and shipped to the address and person of their choice. The company website says that it's "way more fun than greeting cards or flowers."

When the Potato Parcel team made their pitch for an investment from the Sharks, they dressed in potato costumes and said they were keeping it simple after having seen many "elaborate, intricate, and over-the-top pitches." They said, "Our company is Potato Parcel, and we mail potatoes, and that's it."

Of course, the Sharks wanted to hear more about how the company works. As Shark Tank Blog explains, Craig and Bekhit handed out samples of their product, which was a potato with each Shark's face printed on it. The only exception was the potato for Kevin O'Leary, which said, “There is nothing proprietary about this.”

Craig said that the company had made about $213,000 since starting the business. Bekhit was now the full owner of the company, while Craig Craig received a $1 royalty per potato sold. They asked for $50,000 in exchange for a 10 percent stake in the company.

Although the Sharks were amused by the pitch, several of them passed fairly quickly. Daymond John thought the concept went a little too far, Lori Greiner also passed, and Mark Cuban, though he said it wasn't "completely insane," also declined to invest. Kevin O'Leary offered what the presenters wanted, a 10 percent stake in the company for $50,000, but with the addition of half of Craig's royalties for 60 days, then $1 per potato until he'd made $150,000.

Robert Herjavec presented another offer: $50,000, but he wanted 25 percent of the company in exchange. Craig and Bekhit counter-offered a 17.5 percent stake for that amount, but Herjavec didn't budge. The entrepreneurs went with O'Leary's offer.

The founders claimed they were doing about $10,000 in sales per month at the time of their Shark Tank pitch. Shark Tank Blog reported that Potato Parcel had sold over 70,000 parcels as of 2020, making them over $7 million in sales. Some sources say the company itself has a value of $1.75 million.

Potato Parcel is still operational, and you can order your potato parcel delivery on the company's website. Some of the possible products to choose from include a spring loaded glitter bomb, the potato postcard, a Big Head Cut Out, and bundles including items like chocolates as well as the potato. For example, the Mother's Day Rose-Choco Potato Bundle costs $29.99.

Although Potato Parcel may sound unique, there are several other companies based on the same concept, some of which were likely inspired by Potato Parcel. Brick or Potato allowed customers to send either a brick or potato, and Potato Messenger sent 1,000 potatoes painted and arranged as a rainbow flag to Australian Parliament to push for marriage equality.

Other companies similar to Potato Parcel with delivery of fresh food items include:

• Bananas Gone Wild
• Nannergram
• Eggplant Mail