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'It's a ripoff from Japan': 'Shark Tank' fans call out FryAway's solidifying cooking oil pitch

FryAway's pitch may have impressed Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner, but 'Shark Tank' fans dubbed it as 'hard sell'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Laura Lady, founder of FryAway, stepped into 'Shark Tank' to pitch her unique invention- a powder that magically solidifies used cooking oil for easy and safe disposal in household trash. While Laura's creation impressed Lori Greiner and Mark Cuban enough to part with $250,000, unfortunately, fans were anything but impressed. From calling out FryAway for ripping off a popular Japanese product-  Katameru Tenpuru, to declaring the product as a 'hard sell', fans had quite a few thoughts about the pitch.

Laura walked into the tank seeking a $250,000 investment in exchange for a 10% equity in her brand, FryAway. After watching the FryAway powder do its magic, the Sharks were left feeling intrigued by the innovative product. Later when Laura revealed that the company made a whopping $700,000 in sales during their first year, the Sharls' interest in the pitch was further piqued. While Kevin O'Leary, Robert Herjavec, and Daymond John decided to sit out on the deal citing reasons such as them adding no value to being against deep-fried foods, Mark Cuban too decided to sit out as he felt that it would be a "hard sell" product due to rising awareness about healthy lifestyle. But Lori Greiner was instantly smitten by the pitch and decided to make an offer and demanded a 20% equity instead. 

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While Laura was happy about getting an offer from Lori, she however wasn't ready to pass up on Mark just yet and persuaded the Shark into jumping back in by pointing out how they still didn't enter the international markets. This intrigued Mark, who decided to team up with Lori, and made a joint offer of investing $250,000 together, but for 25% equity instead. After some negotiations, the deal was closed at $250,000 for a 22% equity. Though the Sharks and Laura were happy with the deal, 'Shark Tank' fans didn't share the same sentiment.

A fan commented on the show's Reddit forum pointing out how FryAway was just a rip-off of a Japanese product Katameru Tenpuru. The fan wrote, "It’s a ripoff from Japan. It’s been a thing for years, katameru temperu." Another fan added, "It's been a thing for years in the US too, we used it to clean up spills at work." "Honestly I swore that somebody with oil storage bags had already been on Shark Tank. Memory is too fuzzy to get a lead on it though. It's a fine niche product, but that's kind of it," pointed out another fan.

Fans were also skeptical about the product itself, as many cooks/ chefs wouldn't be willing to change their way of disposing of the oil overnight. A fan shared, "This is solid (pun, intentional).Seriously, I don't buy into the whole idea that one of the mainstays of cooking for the last 4500+ years is just going to go away. I think we'll continue to see healthier and healthier alternatives to traditional fry oils but I don't think frying stuff is going away." "I am not sold on this product but she was very impressive. Her idea to go international is a good one," added another fan. "As a chef, we have oil recycling at work which is great, but what do you do at home? Wait until it cools and then pour it into a paper towel lined trash bag. However, this product relies on people being responsible. That’s a hard sell. #SharkTank," tweeted a fan.

'Shark Tank' Season 14 airs every Friday at 8/7c on ABC.

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.

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