‘Shark Tank’ contestant gets smacked in face with pizza mid-pitch — but somehow walks away with $120K deal
Entrepreneurs who appear on 'Shark Tank' come prepared to face heavy criticism from the esteemed Sharks. During an episode of 'Shark Tank' Season 11, two brothers from Minnesota who dressed up as chefs in pillowy white hats pitched their mini pizza oven in front of the panel, including Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and Robert Herjavec. At one point, during their pitch, things took a turn when one of the founders got smacked in the face with a pizza. At that point in time, the entire judging panel was taken aback as none of the Sharks were expecting such a move.
In the episode, Andy Bert and Eric Bert were asking for $120,000 in exchange for 10% of their company. During their pitch, Eric said, "Sharks, do you like pizza? Sharks do know what's even worse than that, what my grandfather Vinnie would think about my fake Italian accent. It's the quality of home-baked pizza in a conventional oven. I mean, let's be honest, it's complete garbage." Then, Andy chimed in, "Now imagine baking authentic Neapolitan style wood-fired pizza at over 900 degrees in your own backyard. Introducing Bertello, wood, fire, and gas outdoor pizza."
While talking about the specialty of their oven, Andy further elaborated, "Our oven has multiple fuel options. You can use the propane burner attachment, or you can use wood kindling. That's not all, Sharks, you can also use lump charcoal, but wait, there's more, you can use wood pellets." As per Market Realist, before getting slapped in the face with a pizza by his brother Andy, Eric said, “The next time someone asks you to take a bite out of a frozen pizza or a take-and-bake pizza cooked in a home conventional oven, forget about it."
At that point in time, a shocked Greiner asked Andy, the founder, who had tomato sauce all over his face, “Are you going to do the pitch like that?” Following that, the Sharks tried out the pizza with Herjavec saying, "Wow, that's really good." Cuban also echoed the same sentiments by saying, "Really good." Soon after, the Bert brothers revealed that the manufacturing cost of their pizza oven was $84, and they sold it for $250. Along with this, they claimed that they made $640,000 from sales the previous year.
Later on, Corcoran asked Eric, “When you did your dog and pony show, I mean, we were like jumping in our seats. And then you got hit with a pizza and everything changed. Are you still recovering from that? What’s happened?" Subsequently, Corcoran went on to say, "I buy into products that I’m not that crazy about, and I love the entrepreneur, and I do very well with it.” Eventually, Corcoran made an offer of $120,000 for 25% of the company. Immediately, O'Leary entered the chat and offered the duo $120,000 for 30% equity. Then, the entrepreneurs asked O'Leary if he was willing to lower his equity to 25%. In the end, O'Leary agreed, and the duo accepted his offer.