An Update on Bee Free Honee from Shark Tank

Back in 2016, Bee Free Honee made its debut on ABC’s Shark Tank. The idea originally came from an accidental cooking experiment by inventor Katie Sanchez in 1999. While it wasn’t officially a business until 2012, it sure made quite a splash on the hit entrepreneurial show. Find out what happened to the company and product below with an update.

5 Facts About Bee Free Honee

1) Katie partnered up with Melissa Elms, and the duo created a fully-fledged business that produced an alternative to honey. It was free of bees because they did not need to use bumblebees to produce honey. Instead, they used lemon juice, cane sugar, and apples.

2) It was toted as not only an alternative to honey, but one that people who were allergic to honey could eat. Kids were fans of the product too, and it was used as a replacement for honey in recipes.

3) Katie and Melissa went into the tank asking for $100,000 for 10%, according to Shark Tank Tales. What they got was $210,000 for 30%, and 3 sharks. Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, and guest panelist Chris Sacca were the trio who invested in the product.

4) After appearing on Shark Tank, sales quadrupled and production moved from Wisconsin to Texas. They even came out with flavored varieties, like mint, slippery elm, and ancho chile. Eventually, they made their way into stores like Sprouts, Wegmans and Whole Foods.

5) Sadly, in 2019, the company went out of business. Market challenges and appeasing customers were a couple of the obstacles Katie and Melissa had to overcome, but the official reason for the shutdown is unknown.

Shark Tank season 13 premieres on October 8 at 8 PM ET on ABC. In the meantime, catch up on other episodes via Hulu or on demand.

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