Boarderie on 'Shark Tank': What is the cost, who are the founders behind Oprah's favorite charcuterie boards
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In 'Shark Tank,' Rachel Solomon and Aaron Menitoff hope that the Sharks will take a bite out of Boarderie, their upmarket, direct-to-consumer charcuterie board business. The team behind the Riviera Beach-based brand is hoping for a big national breakthrough by appearing on the popular show.
In today's era of instant gratification, it's unusual to come across a business that takes its time setting up an eCommerce site and going DTC. But Boarderie did precisely that. They have been delivering handcrafted charcuterie and cheese boards to people's homes for the past two years. Their boards do not require receivers to unpack and assemble them. These are ready to eat and go right from the package to your table. Boarderie will be featured on the November 18 episode of the ABC reality show.
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What is Boarderie?
Boarderie is the first and only company that offers a wonderfully easy method to present and share pre-assembled cheese and charcuterie boards. Boarderie was formed in the fall of 2020, combining everyday convenience with gourmet creativity, and it debuted its direct-to-consumer website in the summer of 2022. Handcrafted quality and ready-to-graze displays are shipped overnight nationwide, providing a premium experience for holidays, hosting events, birthdays, and corporate events and presents.
Boarderie and its sister brand CheeseBoarder were created during the first year of the pandemic by seasoned Wellington caterers looking to break away from their typical business strategy. CheeseBoarder became popular once they began selling the boards on a national scale through Goldbelly.com. Boarderie's professional staff gathers the highest-quality, artisan-inspired ingredients from across the world for a one-of-a-kind taste experience.
Boarderie eliminates the need for purchasing, chopping, and preparation. Temperature-controlled and neatly organized boards are transported direct to the consumer. Consumers and gift-givers can anticipate the following:
Gourmet Selection
The firm and its founders take great pleasure in the high quality of their products. Each board dishes up flawlessly coordinated, meticulously sourced assortments that mix diversity and novelty with complete harmony, featuring personally picked hand-cut cheeses and meats sourced from award-winning producers throughout the world.
Artistic presentation
Each is eye-catching, with a tapestry of components that appear just as they do in the photos. Each of their boards has a variety of artisan cheeses, jams, olives, dried fruits, nuts, meats, and crackers, among other things. Along with selling direct to consumers, it also does a lot of corporate selling. Their cheese and cured meat board contain selections from Croatia, Canada, Turkey, Spain, England, France, Italy, and the United States, among other places! The Boarderie boards are reusable and composed of high-quality acacia wood. This product is only available in the United States as of November 2022.
However, while the boards are delivered directly to the customer, Boarderie began by selling through a variety of third-party channels, including Costco, Williams Sonoma, and Neiman Marcus.
Boarderie Boards
Boarderie offers artisan cheese and charcuterie boards that serve from 3 to 14 people. Every arrangement comes with a memento acacia board and bamboo cutlery.
Deluxe Arte Board & Baked Brie Feast
35 different types of artisan cheeses, chocolates, nuts, dried fruits, meats, and spreads (63 ounces)
3 boxes of crackers: Tart Cherry and Cacao, Rosemary and Olive Oil, and Everything Spice crackers
3 ready-to-bake brie en croute pastries (to bake for 20 minutes):
Tangerine chile marinated olives, sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary asiago, red pearl peppers, and a splash of balsamic glaze complete this Mediterranean-inspired dish.
Truffle Cordeo cheese layered with real Turkish fig and delicious natural orange preserves
Blueberry vanilla goat cheese topped with zesty Thai crystallized ginger and honey
Arte Cheese & Charcuterie Board
35 different types of artisan cheeses, chocolates, nuts, dried fruits, meats, and spreads (63 ounces)
3 boxes of crackers: Tart Cherry and Cacao, Rosemary and Olive Oil, and Everything Spice crackers
Ciccetti Cheese & Charcuterie Board
Rosemary and Olive Oil Crackers in a Box
15 artisan cheese, meats, dried fruits, nuts, and chocolates (27 ounces)
Who are the founders of Boarderie?
Boarderie is a proud founder-led, family-run enterprise! Julie and Aaron Menitoff began their careers in hospitality over twenty years ago, co-owning a catering firm in Palm Beach, Florida. They started modestly, but their ingenuity and flare quickly distinguished them. They quickly had projects all around the country and celebrities like Prince Harry and Bruce Springsteen as clientele.
When the pandemic struck in 2020, they needed to pivot to stay in business, so they teamed up with Angel Jerez and Rachel and set out to solve a deceptively simple question: what would it take to manufacture catering-quality cheese boards that could be delivered neatly to anywhere? The answer would need many sleepless nights and would necessitate Julie and Aaron (literally!) betting the farm on the concept. Eventually, Boarderie was born in October 2020.
Rachel Solomon is Boarderie's CEO and partner, as well as a financial analyst. Boarderie & Cheeseboarder & Wellington Hospitality Group's founder and CEO is Aaron Menitoff. Aaron is a professional chef who graduated from the Florida Culinary Institute with an Associate of Arts - AA, Food & Beverage Management, Culinary Arts degree. He became president of Wellington Hospitality Group in 2004, and in 2020, he launched Boarderie & Cheeseboarder.
"Our vision has been perfected over 20 years in hospitality, and we think it shows. You'll see our expertise reflected in deliciously display-worthy arrangements, catering-level quality, and chef-inspired pairings," said Aaron. "Whether you're giving, celebrating, or sharing at home, at an event, or at work, you're free to enjoy a grazing experience that delivers all the flavors with none of the fuss."
Rachel interned at Gooroo, CBRE, and JP Morgan while studying Economics and Psychology at Barnard College. She began working as an analyst for Citi in July 2018 and left in 2020 to become a partner and CEO of Boarderie.
"This direct-to-consumer launch solidifies our spot as the first and only brand providing consumers and businesses alike with catering-quality cheese and charcuterie boards that are simple to send and guaranteed to impress," Rachel said. "We've created a whole new category in edible gifting and entertaining and have been fortunate to see incredible demand since day one. We've taken premium grazing experiences to a new level for this holiday season and so many other occasions throughout the year," Rachel added.
What is the cost and where to buy Boarderie from?
The price of a cheese board is more than $100, and the company must be generating a lot of money. The Ciccetti Cheese & Charcuterie Board is $129. The Diletto Cheese & Charcuterie is priced at $159.00. The Arte Cheese & Charcuterie Board costs $239.00. The items are accessible not just on their own website, but also on Amazon. Customers may also Doordash it in addition to buying it on iGourmet.com. It has a five-star rating on Amazon, with comments like, "Ordered last minute for a party and was not disappointed!"
Where is Boarderie now?
Oprah's Favorite Things for 2022 included the Arte Cheese & Charcuterie Board. Boarderie is on Oprah's list of Small Businesses. Arte Cheese & Charcuterie Board was chosen as one of Oprah's Favorite Things by USA Today. Boarderie was chosen by Forbes business magazine twice: once as one of the best holiday presents for 2020 and again as a Valentine's Day gift in 2021. Beautiful Touches online magazine gave Boarderie a wonderful review, saying that, even in the heat of Florida, the arrangement came ice cold and the crackers dry and crisp.
According to Wptv, Boarderie will have distributed 60,000 boards to private consumers and enterprises, including some IT giants, by November 2022.
"Selling through third parties is something that helps us a lot, it's profitable, but it's not going to bring us to the level that we need to be at. And that's where the eCommerce side of it comes in," explained Rachel Solomon, Boarderie's co-CEO and partner. "The great thing is our wholesale business covers our overhead, but the explosive growth that we're looking for ... to start to become that household name ... that's gonna come from the direct to consumer."
Boarderie has had its eCommerce site up and running for a few months and is enjoying excellent results. "Selling through channels helped us prove demand for the product. And so we knew it was there. And that gave us confidence going to direct to consumer and starting to spend money on advertising."
Who will steal the deal?
Rachel and Aaron will pitch the company and its growth prospects to a panel of five Sharks. They'll have to persuade Sharks Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Kevin O'Leary, Barbara Corcoran, and Mark Cuban that their firm is worth investing in. A decent business plan, good financials, and sales statistics will impress the Sharks, but they must also demonstrate their ability to operate the firm to 'Shark' standards.
'Shark Tank’ Season 14, Episode 7 returns to ABC after a two-week break on Friday, November 18, 2022, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like ActionGlow, Boarderie FRSH, Legacy Shave, and an update on Emma Grede's Season 13 deal with Ooakshell.
Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.