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Rejected on ‘Shark Tank’ as the ‘worst-tasting’ product, this milk brand now sells 15 million cans nationwide

"As for Shark Tank, we had to learn from it and move on, just like every other aspect of the business," founder Manny Lubin said.

Just appearing on the ABC business program 'Shark Tank' to present one's business ideas is a big deal for many budding entrepreneurs. Some walk away with great deals, while others gain exposure for their companies. During an episode of 'Shark Tank' Season 11, entrepreneurs Manny Lubin and Josh Belinsky presented their beverage company, Slate, to judges Mark Cuban, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and Rohan Oza. In the episode, Lubin and Belinsky were seeking $400,000 in exchange for 10% of their company. 

The Sharks tried out the samples of the chocolate milk drink. As per The Things, after tasting the company's beverage, Cuban said, "Oh, I do not like that at all." The founders, in response, asked Cuban, "Mark, do you drink dark chocolate? Do you eat dark chocolate?" to which he responded, "I eat dark chocolate." Meanwhile, Oza quipped, "I mean, I didn't love it, okay. So, when Mark threw up on it. I liked the clothes." O'Leary echoed, "There's a little funky chicken thing going on there." 

Lubin and Belinsky didn't receive any offer from the Sharks, and viewers were sure that sealed their fate for their drink. However, following their appearance on 'Shark Tank', the founders took the Sharks' feedback and developed a new and improved formula. According to Forbes magazine, Slate witnessed a major growth of $300% in sales between 2020 and 2021, through e-commerce.

While the sales were good, Lubin and Belinsky also wanted to ensure longevity in the field. Lubin told Forbes, "Along with this, we do everything we can to be a sustainable brand: our products are packaged in 100% recyclable aluminum cans, and we’re actually a certified plastic-neutral brand through partner rePurpose Global. This means, for every pound of plastic we use, we remove it from the planet. When we ultra-filter our milk, we also remove some of the water naturally in milk, which gets sent back to our partner farms. The only outside water we use is to clean our machinery.”

It seems like Cuban's criticism worked wonders for Lubin and Belinsky's chocolate milk drinks. The company went national in 2024 despite suffering a setback on 'Shark Tank.' North Eastern News revealed, "Re-formulating the products to perfect the taste, obtaining athlete endorsements and partnering with the UFC to become an official sponsor of the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world have led to the sale of more than 15 million cans of product in thousands of stores and online."

Belinsky, too, revealed, “This will be the national push this year. We’re four years in. Our whole thing was ‘learn small, make mistakes small.’” Reflecting on their time on 'Shark Tank', Lubin added, "As for Shark Tank, we had to learn from it and move on, just like every other aspect of the business. Every time we see the episode, we can see how far we’ve come, but we’re also reminded we still have a heck of a long way to go.”