Project Pollo on 'Shark Tank': What is the cost, who is the founder, and all about the affordable vegan food chain
With the rising awareness about the adverse impact of consuming meat on our planet amongst the general masses, many are looking at plant-based alternatives. While a vegan lifestyle sounds great on paper, what puts off many people from taking the plunge into shifting to a vegan diet and lifestyle is the steep price tags on vegan items. Be it vegan mylk or plant-based meat substitute, everything costs a tiny fortune.
When Lucas Bradbury realized how the steep cost was keeping many people away from switching to healthier and sustainable plant-based alternatives, he decided to come up with a solution by launching his own food chain called Project Pollo that offers a wide variety of plant-based food at affordable prices, thus making healthy food accessible to everybody. Bradbury will be pitching for his unique food business on the upcoming episode 24 of 'Shark Tank' before the Sharks — Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O'Leary, Barbara Corcoran, and guest Shark Kevin Hart. Bradbury will be seeking an investment of $2.5 million for a 5% stake in the company! While we will have to wait and watch to see if the vegan food chain business with its tiny equity stake and high valuation will appeal to Sharks, in the meanwhile, you can learn all about Project Pollo and its founder here.
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What is Project Pollo?
What sets Project Pollo apart from its peers like McDonald's, Wendy's, or Chick-fil-A, is not only its plant-based food menu which boasts of delicious fares like burritos, burgers, fries, wraps, etc, made of vegan chicken alternative (chikn) but also its emphasis on people over profits! The food chain which started off as a food truck in 2020 during the pandemic, has quickly scaled into a chain of 12 restaurants scattered across Texas in less than two years since its launch!
Considering the brand's focus on people over profits, Project Pollo has various programs that benefit its employees and the communities around them. From offering fair compensation to all of its employees with other perks such as health and dental insurance, as well as paid vacations, the brand also has a "pay what you can" menu. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Lucas Bradbury explained, "There’s a part of our menu with a chikn sandwich, which we will call the Free Bird, and popcorn chikn and [vegan] mac and cheese. Every location has it. It just means you pay what you can: If you have 25 cents on you, cool, we’ve got your food. If you don’t have any money on you, cool, we’ve got your food. If you have $5 on you, cool, we’ve got your food. It’s about community access to plant-based foods. ... If I could do one thing for the rest of my life — if Project Pollo becomes this huge success story — I promise you, I’ll drive around in a food truck and hand out free food to underserved communities. That’s what I’m most passionate about. I truly don’t care if this company ever makes a substantial amount of money."
"Project Pollo was built around one simple mission, challenging chicken by putting people over profits and offering Pollo with a purpose. We sought out to redefine consumer behavior by offering convenience, quality, and accessibility. Inevitably the future of mass consumption is plant-based; we want to lead that front, to put one on every corner and have affordable options in every community that surrounds us. You are our priority and our commitment is to you, the community that got us here!" wrote Bradbury on the brand's website.
Who is the founder of Project Pollo?
As mentioned above Lucas Bradbury is the founder of Project Pollo. After working for several years in the food industry in various capacities, Bradbury launched Project Pollo during the pandemic in September 2020. It all began when Bradbury was trying to get his family to eat healthier by switching to a vegan diet. During this time his friend asked him if he would be interested in opening a food truck in his bar, so that he could reopen the bar during the pandemic. Bradbury agreed and soon found that his chikn-based sandwiches and wraps were a huge hit amongst the customers. Encouraged by the success of the food truck, he slowly expanded his operations by opening 12 outlets across in a span of 12 months!
Bradbury shared, "Project Pollo is not built around being an in-your-face vegan brand that’s trying to persuade people to be vegan or vegetarian. The focus of Project Pollo is creating a foundation for the future of a sustainable QSR [quick service restaurant] concept. ... It uses a lot less land, uses a lot less water, uses a lot less greenhouse gases and does something that’s more sustainable for the planet [than other restaurants]. ... So our focus is the future of sustainability in mass consumption. Now, we do put on the menu that it’s “powered by plants.” But again, I don’t want to be in-your-face vegan. It just so happens our protein is made from real plants. That’s it."
What is the cost and where can you find Project Pollo's food?
Based on the item you select from Project Pollo's wide range of offerings you may have to shell out anything between $2.50 to $12. You can grab your favorite plant-based food from one of Project Pollo's outlets in Texas or order from their website here.
Where is Project Pollo now?
Considering the rapid and impressive growth that Project Pollo saw within the first year of its launch, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the brand has some ambitious plans for its future including branching out not only nationally but also internationally and putting Chick-fil-A out of business by 2030! Bradbury explained, "Our whole focus is challenging the system. You can have a great quality product at an affordable price in a convenient manner, that’s good for the planet and good for you. And it just so happens to be made from plants."
Who will steal the deal?
Guest Shark Kevin Hart might try to steal the deal. Although the brand's sales numbers and profit margins will ultimately be the major deciding factor for the sharks on whether to invest in the business or not. So, we will just have to wait and watch to see if the Sharks even make a deal.
‘Shark Tank’ Season 13 Episode 23 airs on ABC on May 20, 2022, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Aqua Boxing Glove, The Transformation Factory, Project Pollo, and The Players Trunk.
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.
