After Sharks Bite, Misfit Foods Launches Cauliflower Bratwurst

Blended meat brand Misfit Foods may not have ultimately walked away from the television show Shark Tank with an investment deal, but it did garner some invaluable product feedback. The result of this insight debuted this week: a new Smoked Cauli Chicken Brat.

The sausage, priced at $6.99, will debut in Whole Foods Mid-Atlantic region stores this month before being added to the digital shelves of FreshDirect, Good Eggs, and Imperfect Food by year’s end.

Originally launched as a juice brand that used “misfit” or ugly produce, Misfit shifted its focus to meat-based products in 2019, launching a line of vegetable and meat blended sausages. In 2020 the company expanded its offerings to include blended ground beef offerings. Moving from reducing food waste to making a greater environmental impact, the company says it provides shoppers an easier way to consume less meat while not having to make radical dietary changes.

In March, the company appeared on the television show Shark Tank, originally asking for $250,000 for a 5% equity stake in the company. Ultimately founder and CEO Phil Wong accepted an offer from entrepreneurs Mark Cuban and Daniel Lubetzky for $300,000 for 15% of the company. While the televised episode featured a successful negotiation, ultimately, Wong said, the deal fell through due to undisclosed reasons and Misfit walked away with no investment.

However, Cuban and Lubetzky have remained “friendly” with the company, Wong said, and their advice inspired the team to take a deeper look at their portfolio. Previously Misfit only produced creatively flavored offerings such as Kale and Chicken Chimichurri sausages, Curry Carrot Lao Style sausages and Korean Beet Gochujang ground beef. While offering unique flavors helped garner attention, in order to really have the most impact in shifting consumer behavior, the company also needed some “workhorse” offerings that easily fit into existing eating habits. Further customer research solidified this hypothesis, Wong said.

“We wanted to hear not just from ‘sharks’ but also from our customers, so we got on the phone with dozens of them. Very few of them were self-identified flexitarians; most were omnivores looking for more nutritious meat products, and many confirmed they wanted us to make ‘workhorse’ products,” Wong noted. “We want to build our products and our company with those omnivores in mind, because that’s where the less-meat movement matters the most.”

Cauliflower has a “great PR person,” he added in reference to its developing buzz as a replacement for grains in everything from chips to pizza to pasta. Brats are also a fairly well known sausage type among consumers, Wong said.

In addition to the product feedback, the Shark Tank appearance was also beneficial in helping the company gain new customers. Though right after the show aired Misfit initially went out of stock of a few items, customers were largely understanding, he said. Still, shipping meat direct-to-consumer via cold chain is both expensive and complicated and Misfit’s top focus remains on adding brick and mortar retailers. Attention from the show, Wong added, has also helped jump start conversations with buyers and category managers.

“We’re getting ready to re-invest in our brick-and-mortar execution next year, starting with Whole Foods,” Wong said. “Most of our distribution is digital, but ultimately we’re going to scale our company where people are buying their meat, which is still predominantly at brick-and-mortar retail.”