Nowhere Bakery Swims in the Shark Tank!

Join Daniel Scharff and Patricia Menegoto in this bonus episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, where they chat with Maurizio Rasti and Saphira Rasti, the dynamic founders of Nowhere Bakery. Discover their captivating journey from the fashion and modeling industry to crafting healthy baked goods, focusing on gluten-free offerings and noteworthy partnerships with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Get the inside scoop on Nowhere Bakery's Shark Tank experience, from filming multiple episodes daily to managing the surge in demand post-airing. The founders share insights into their meticulous Shark Tank application process, emphasizing the intensive selection rounds and strategic preparations for significant exposure.

Tune in now!

Listen in as Saphira and Maurizio share about:

Nowhere Bakery’s Product Line and Distribution

Team and Growth

Collaboration with Gwyneth Paltrow

Casting Process

Appearance on Shark Tank

Commercial Kitchens

Preparation for Increased Demand

Episode Links:

Nowhere Bakery’s Website

Nowhere Bakery’s  Instagram

Don't forget to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify if you enjoyed this episode. For potential sponsorship opportunities or to join the Startup CPG community, visit http://www.startupcpg.com.


Show Links:

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• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Daniel at [e-mail]
• Episode music by Super Fantastics
  
  

Creators & Guests

Host

Daniel Scharff

Founder/CEO, Startup CPG

What is The Startup CPG Podcast?

A podcast from Startup CPG - highlighting stories from founders working towards a better food system and industry insights from experts to give you a better chance at success.

Daniel Scharff
Hello, everybody. We have a real treat for you again this week because one of our community's absolute favorite brands, nowhere bakery, is airing on Shark Tank Friday, March 15. This brand has had a major impact on our community. They were a 2022 Shelfies winner, and at our Expo West Alley rally party, they were voted as the top brand and won a free booth at Expo west this year. So everybody going to the show will get a chance to visit them even on the very day that their episode is streaming. They are also one of nine standout brands featured by Fancy Foods. And I'm really pleased also to have here today Patricia Menagato, who is our director of community and marketing.

00:45
Daniel Scharff
And I think just to kick off, Patricia, I think is your biggest and, like, I think, identified you guys and was just always rooting for you. I think maybe also because Patricia mainly sticks to gluten free. She was just so interested from the start, so I thought maybe a cool way to start was Patricia. Maybe you could introduce yourself and then tell us how come you love nowhere bakery so much, and how did you know about them?

01:09
Patricia Menegoto
Yeah. Hi. Thanks for having me. I can't remember until today that when you guys applied for the shelfies and I received your package, and I have the first bite, and I'm not a very sweet person. I prefer savory so much. But I just was blown away because I've been gluten free now for, like, 80 years, and I really care about ingredients and everything. So when I saw, I was like, okay, looks good.

01:38
Saphira Rasti
Don't get me wrong, it looks very good.

01:39
Patricia Menegoto
But again, I'm a more savory person. But when I gave the first bite, I was like, this is like, this has to be the Shelfie winner. I text Jenna that she used to be my judge as well for the shelfies, and I was like, okay, have you tried this brand? And I sent her a photo. She's like, I haven't received it yet. I was like, please try. So when she did it, she was like, yes, we already have the winner for the bakers. And since then, I met you guys, and you're awesome. I was a fan since day one. I actually hid the cookies when I got from the shelf is from Kevin, because otherwise he would eat like my husband. He would eat everything. And I was like, I'm just going to keep in my office. He can have everything else.

02:21
Daniel Scharff
That's awesome. So as you guys can tell, this is a huge treat for us when just one of the brands that we love so much from the community has something epic like this happen to them. So now, thank you for letting us fan out a little bit. And I'm going to pass to you guys. So, Maurizio and Sophia, do you mind? Please introduce yourselves and just tell us a little bit about nowhere bakery.

02:41
Maurizio Rasti
Well, first of all, thank you for that warm introduction, Daniel. That actually made my eye tear, and I didn't think that was going to happen on a Sunday, so that was really sweet. And, Patty, you know, we just love you and adore you, and you've helped us tremendously throughout this entire process. And we couldn't be more grateful to you and the energy that you bring all the time. So thank you both so much. I'm going to let Safira do most of the talking because she's really the magic. My background is in many things, which include sales and fashion and marketing and all types of business and entrepreneurship.

03:14
Maurizio Rasti
And I'll give you just an easy tidbit for me, is I just knew this was always going to be my space, because when I was young and I would watch real successful looking presenting ceos and corporate guys, and they would always have this amazing part in their hair. And I just thought, I don't have that, so that can never be me. Obviously, I can't go this route, so I have to carve my own path. And so I've always been tinkering and trying and failing and failing until I hit the peak of failure, which is acting for the last 20 years and being told no repeatedly. So I have very thick skin for this. And I think that's why we work so much, so great as a team and able to prevail. But I'll let Sophia do the rest here.

04:02
Saphira Rasti
Yeah. So, essentially, if you couldn't tell, not from here. I grew up in New Zealand and then moved to Australia when I was 19. I started my career off as in fashion, much like Mauritio, which is funny that we kind of shared that together. I was a fashion buyer for guests. Australia did that for a few years and then ended up leaving that to pursue a career in modeling. During that time, I was traveling around the world living the dream, but my health started deteriorating, and that's when my kind of gut health issues started to come up and started to get a lot more intolerant to things like gluten and dairy and a lot of things that make me bloated. And when I met Mauritzio in America, he also had a very big sweet tooth.

04:53
Saphira Rasti
And so we would often butt heads when it came to dessert time, because I couldn't eat anything. And he liked the more traditional things of the world. And so we could never find anything that really catered to both of our needs. And so that's when I started getting into the kitchen and making desserts and tinkering with different recipes. And every night, I remember, I would come to him and be like, okay, try this. It's made of black beans. And he's like, okay, let me try and be like, oh, it's a little dry. And then I'm like, okay. Kind of like just taking notes, going back, trying something else. And then that was kind of like a few years in the making. And that's really where the foundation, I think, of all the recipes that nowhere bakery has.

05:36
Saphira Rasti
It's a combination of healthy ingredients, things that are good for your gut, but things that people like Maurizio would also enjoy.

05:45
Daniel Scharff
I love to hear that. I think I have a very basic taste bud and taste. Like, I grew up eating pretty crappy food, and I used to work for Mars chocolate also. And I love a Snickers bar. Don't give me any high quality dark chocolate. I will spit it out. Like, give me the crappy stuff. And so just having read a little bit about your founding story, it makes sense to me. You have the perfect combo of somebody who is going to insist on it being better for you and somebody who's going to insist on it tasting just as good or better than anything else out there. So that is really exciting to see. So, Maurizio, when did the recipe get to a point where you were like, wait, I think we got something here.

06:30
Maurizio Rasti
Long. It was a long journey. And I can tell you it's hard to both tread lightly when it's your wife, but also be true to yourself and to the taste and quality. Right? But I always was honest, and I was always very direct. And I think I have a refined palate that just craves the like. If you say, do you want to have a hot dog? Or do you want to know a Michelin chicken? I would say a hot dog. But I know that it should taste like the Michelin chicken. So it was at least a year, Daniel, until we perfected it. And then I thought, well, this is the absolute best cookie I ever had. And forget subway cookie, because I think that's actually great. Forget Bristol farm cookie, because I actually think that's great. This is the new cookie.

07:22
Maurizio Rasti
And so on our first iteration of our packaging, we wrote gluten free, vegan and everything else once it became a brand. So small, because I wanted this to be just an amazing cookie that happened to be free from these top allergens. I didn't want you to be like, okay, this is a pretty good gluten free cookie. Or, this tastes like a pretty good vegan cookie. No, this is the cookie. It's just free from these things.

07:48
Daniel Scharff
That is awesome. I love to hear that. And honestly, I'm the same way. Like, I went home for July 4, and went to a couple of nice restaurants with my parents, but then the meal that I liked best was the one with the hot dogs and the chicken tenders. Like, this is a feast. Let's go. I really appreciate that approach of just, like, this must be just the most delicious thing out there. That also happens to be the best for you for those alternatives. Because I've worked at Mars Chocolate, I've also worked in food tech and companies working on plant based eggs. And my feeling was always like, people would say, well, that's not as healthy for you as a salad. Like, yeah, you know what? If you could just eat a salad all day, that's great.

08:34
Daniel Scharff
If you are the kind of person who can make those kind of decisions perfect. But if you're like a lot of us who are going to indulge and eat things that are saltier or sugary or whatever, let's have some better options than what's out there so we can improve the food system by us just making better choices for what we do want to have anyway. So, Patricia, now coming back to you because you've been gluten free, I think you said for 80 years, which is impressive. That's a good streak.

09:02
Patricia Menegoto
What about you for, like, 80 or eight?

09:05
Saphira Rasti
Sorry, my ex.

09:06
Patricia Menegoto
I want to say eight.

09:08
Daniel Scharff
I was wondering because you're brazilian. I was like, I wonder if that's a saying in Portuguese. Like, oh, like, wait, I've been something for 80 years. Okay, so you've been gluten free for eight years. Thank you. As a consumer, tell me how for you, this ranks up against other gluten free options and what are your challenges? Typically?

09:31
Patricia Menegoto
Yeah, I think that for me, whenever you see a brand that is gluten free, vegan top allergies, normally they taste healthy, they taste very different. And, for example, Kevin is not gluten free, or he doesn't care as much as ingredients as I do. So whenever we eat out something or I buy something, he can say, like, oh, this is good, but tastes healthy. You can tell the difference. But when I try your guys product, it's like, you can't tell. I just thought it was like a normal cookie. I look at the ingredient again, and I was like, are you sure that this is what's inside? Because it's, like, mind blowing. And I think in the beginning, when I became gluten free, it was very hard to find good options.

10:19
Patricia Menegoto
Or, like, if you go somewhere, like a restaurant, they would say, oh, you can eat a salad. That's all you can have. But nowadays, I'm just happy that we have so many more options. But not everything that it sells as better for you is actually better for you. I think some brands has some tricks that they do, and then also the taste. It's very important. And I think you guys nailed the taste so much.

10:43
Saphira Rasti
I think that's what as well, there's two sides of it, because you do find that the plant based and the gluten freeze and the free froms, they tend to add in fillers and things that help the product taste like the traditional, but they're not actually good for you, and they're actually probably worse for your gut because they're manufactured and they're not like real food. So that's part of the reason as well. We wanted to make sure that even though it was gluten free and mostly grain free vegan, it was made from ingredients that you could find in your pantry.

11:19
Daniel Scharff
Yeah, that's awesome. Usually, I guess I have different opinions about stuff. Like, typically, if someone said, oh, you should try this, it's gluten free, I'd be like, I definitely don't want that. I know. Oh, it's not going to taste good. Yeah, I don't want that. I kind of feel that way about grain free also, which, all of these things are better for me, but I am not a super healthy person. Probably anyone who knows me knows that. But this, I think, could just be my cookie then forever. That's great. So can you guys tell me a little bit about your team also? I think I read that it was at least at one point the two of you, and I think Sophia's mom also. Is that right? Is that the power trio, or have you guys grown since then?

12:02
Saphira Rasti
Well, our administration team, like everything outside of production, is myself, Mauritzio, and my mother in law, who is after our child as we speak. But we have a great team in the kitchen who bakes the cookies, packs the cookies. We did do it ourselves for a very long time, but we did get to a point where we just couldn't keep up. So we have probably a team of about eight in the kitchen. And then, yeah, me and Maurizio head up all of the admin and the day to day and the running of the business.

12:35
Daniel Scharff
That's a lot of stuff.

12:37
Maurizio Rasti
Let me just add in, okay. This girl would leave our tiny LA apartment at two in the morning to drive to the commercial kitchen in where we live now in Orange county. She would bake until six in the morning. She would pack and then come back to LA and give them to her friends that ordered from her on Instagram. This went on for six months. She would pack her car, unpack her car, pack her car, unpack. We're talking ingredients, we're talking all the things that she needed to make these cookies. Until one day she came in just ghost. And she's already quite fair. So just imagine what she really looked like. Pale as can be. And she said, I think I could use your help. And that was the last day I did anything for myself.

13:25
Maurizio Rasti
And then that was ingrained in the new family business because I saw what was kind of taking its toll on her and what it took. And that grew then to two days into three days, and now we're in the kitchen full time. But there was so much groundwork that Safira did just by herself for months and months and months before it became to what it is.

13:47
Daniel Scharff
So that's amazing. And I really respect the hustle, and I don't understand how anyone can be successful without putting in that much work and passion and everything. So, nice job, guys. So two more questions before I ask you guys more about shark Tank. The first is, can you tell people where your products are sold and just describe kind of the product line?

14:08
Saphira Rasti
Yeah, so we're in about, I would say that's 80 stores at the moment. The biggest retailer we're in is mothers, which is an OC like SoCal grocery chain, and also latins in LA. We're sold in Alfred coffee, the earth bars, project juice, and beaming, and then just a lot of independent coffee shops as well.

14:35
Daniel Scharff
Perfect. And those are just some of the absolute tastemaker accounts here in SoCal. For anybody who doesn't know, mother's market has just some of the most epic locations, like waterfronts, gorgeous stores. I love it. That's awesome. And just bold prediction. I think you guys will be in many multiples of that this time next year, so get cracking in that kitchen. Can you describe also the product line for everybody, the different products you make?

15:06
Saphira Rasti
We have kind of two different product lines. We've got a shelf stable product line and then we've got a single serve grab and go line, which is from the refrigerated section. So that's things like chocolate Chip cookie, which was the Shelfie winner candy bar cookie, which is a healthy take on your snickers bar, a brownie and a blondie. And then we have some little bit more unique items, like a tag along, which is a healthier take on a Girl Scout cookie, no, baked cookie dough bar, and then an ABC cookie and a breakfast cookie, which is a pecan raisin cookie that we like to have for breakfast.

15:45
Saphira Rasti
And then on the shelf stable baking line, we have our chocolate chip cookie baking mix, which is based off of our chocolate chip cookie that you can bake at home, and then a sugar cookie mix that you can also bake at home that is completely sugar free. And you just add maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla, too.

16:06
Daniel Scharff
I had to make sure I had lunch before talking to you guys because as soon as I started researching and looking at all the pictures of just gooey deliciousness, it's like I'm going to be too hungry if I don't fuel up before this.

16:18
Patricia Menegoto
Just really quick, should we ask about the collaboration with the. Wasn't like the Gwyneth Paltrow that you guys did a collaboration with the actress, or should we just go to the shark thing?

16:29
Maurizio Rasti
I think that'd be fair. I think that'd be fun.

16:31
Daniel Scharff
Hold on, editor, please. Cut that part. So. All right, I'm going to clap back in. And Patricia, you just asked the question.

16:37
Patricia Menegoto
Okay, so before we go to the shark Tank content, you guys also did some very fun collaborations with Gwyneth Paltrow. Also, Rachel's good it or. Yeah, good it's, if I'm not like, I know both of them. I mean, not personally of, but. So how was that collaboration like, how did you guys get into collab with them?

17:04
Saphira Rasti
Yeah. So the story with Gwyneth Paltrow is actually quite an interesting one. It's kind of like the series of events that had to happen before in order for this to kind of unfold. But essentially, we had done a collaboration with a food blogger, wellness blogger, who works out with, she trains with the same trainer that Gwyneth Paltrow trains with. And so when we did the collaboration with her, she said, you know, I would love to get a box to Gwyneth. Let me hand off a box to my trainer and he'll give it to her. I was like, amazing. So I went into the kitchen, baked a special box just for her, couriered it up to LA and to the gym. And he what I thought, passed it on to Gwyneth.

17:53
Saphira Rasti
I didn't hear a word since the courier pandemic it over, not a word for months. And I was in the kitchen one day, it was a Saturday morning, and I get a text and it's from Gwyneth. And she said, hi, this is Gwyneth. I tried your cookies a few months ago. I really love them. I want to get some for father's day tomorrow, but I don't see, like, an overnight shipping option. Oh, no, sorry. This was on a Friday. I don't see an overnight shipping option. I want them on Saturday. And so I was like, okay, no worries. I'll overnight them to you. Got on the phone with ups, made a special batch for her, made sure with the guy on the phone that they would be delivered next day. He assured me, yes. I get up on a Saturday morning.

18:38
Saphira Rasti
I checked the tracking, delayed. It wasn't going to get there till Monday. I was like, what do I do? And she lives probably, I would say, about four hour drive from where were. And so Maritzio said, you got to go yourself. I was like, we're in the middle of production. We're short staffed. I'm in the middle of baking cookies. And he goes, I got this. You go, I'll handle the kitchen. I'm like, okay. So I jump in the car. I text her. I'm like, I'm dropping them off myself. I'll see you soon. And so I drive up. I find out that maybe 20 minutes into me leaving, Maurizio pulled a speed rack of hot cookies all over himself and ended up burning his entire forearm.

19:29
Daniel Scharff
Oh, no.

19:32
Saphira Rasti
And I essentially drove up to her house, and I thought I was just going to be met with a handler, an assistant. I'd give them, and then I'd leave. She opened the door, gave me a big hug, welcomed me into her home, and I'm standing there, know, talk like a regular human, be great. Don't seem like you're standing in front of Gwyneth Paltrow in her kitchen. And so she was just asking me about the business and about our story. Her husband came in and she's like, do you want a photo? I'm like, yes, I would love a photo. So we took some photos, and then she gave me some fruit from her fruit tree and sent me on my way.

20:19
Daniel Scharff
That's so good.

20:20
Patricia Menegoto
That's awesome.

20:22
Saphira Rasti
And so after that, she posted us on instagram. We were kind of just talking back and forth on text and Maurizio actually brought the idea. He's like, why don't we ask her to do a collaboration? I was like, I don't know if she would go for that. Like, we're kind of small, but let me ask. And so I asked, and she was like, yeah, I'd love to. And that's kind of how it started, and it was very seamless, and she was really easy to work with. We went back and forth on ideas and came up with a holiday sample box that we launched the end of 2022.

20:56
Daniel Scharff
Oh, that's so good. What a cool story. Oh, I'm so glad you asked about that, Patricia. Okay, so speaking of celebrities and posting things. So let's get to shark tank. I am so excited to see the episode. I think it was two weeks ago. Yeah, I got to see two of our community brands on there getting deals, just scooping up deals. I watched funky, mellow, man, they crushed it. It was so good. It was like a no brainer deal for them. They're like, what? Like, yeah, I'll take that. This thing is amazing. It's a good. Let's go. And they, oh, man, they really know such a great job of representing their brand and themselves. It was beautiful. And then Jake from Philo, Manila, man, that was impressive.

21:42
Daniel Scharff
I don't know if you guys have watched the episode yet, but they were, like, counting him out, and then he pulled out the back pocket gold royalty card, and they all came back in. It was like, oh, my God. What a smart guy. That was so clever. So I'm so excited to see you guys on there as well. I always want to know, can you take us back to how did this come about? How did you get the courage up to apply and also be willing to go through the work of it?

22:12
Saphira Rasti
Do you remember how it actually started? We may have seen it on the slack channel.

22:15
Maurizio Rasti
Yeah, it was a link. Right. And we've internally talked about this show and how great the impact could be, but that it wasn't great for deals, necessarily for CPG, because it's such a hard evaluation to come up with. And we didn't want to get crushed. We didn't know at the time. And I don't know if we still know for sure if we want to keep it as a family business forever and ever or find a way to actually make an exit and go enjoy our life. So that's still something that we are finding some challenges with. But at that time, I knew for sure I didn't want anyone to really come in. So when the opportunity came, I didn't really tell Sophia. I just hit the link. I think I put every wrong answer I could think of.

22:57
Maurizio Rasti
Why should you be on shark tank? Oh, I'll be the worst guest. Why do you think your company is worthy of it? Oh, I don't think it is. I think it's terrible. Like all this kind of stuff thinking, okay, well, at least I did it. And so I won't hear back, and that's the end of it. And sure enough. Hey, I think you guys have something here. Do you want to talk about being on shark day? So at that time, I was like, well, let me tell staff and see what she thinks. And she said, when did you do this? And blah and all this kind of stuff. Cut to the most grueling question and answer company profiling numbers and spreadsheets and x, y and z to get to a point where along the entire step they would say, hey, you're great.

23:47
Maurizio Rasti
We're moving you forward. But we may not. And then it would be the next step. Hey, great, we're moving you to the next step, but get ready because we're going to cut you. Hey. And so this would go on. And sure enough, went to the very last stage of it and they were like, you guys are out. Thanks for trying. And we thought, boy, we just lost six months of our life there. Great.

24:11
Saphira Rasti
And that was last. Was that last year?

24:14
Maurizio Rasti
That was last year.

24:15
Saphira Rasti
Yeah, that was last year. Around July last year.

24:18
Maurizio Rasti
So I think maybe six, eight months. Go by email. Guys, we're doing this again. You are heavy favorites. Would you consider doing this again? And I was like, hell, no. No chance. We don't want any part of this.

24:35
Saphira Rasti
Well, we basically said, obviously we still want to be a part of it, but the process of it was so intense. And I was seven months pregnant at the time, so I was like, okay, do we want to take this on now we know how much is involved. And so I think Maretzier responded with, we'd love to, but we don't want to go through the same dance of it all. You have all of our information. We can send you updated financials. We put together a whole video last year, so you have it. That's what you got. And so that process was a lot easier this time around in terms of the back end stuff, but it's still very much. You got to the next round, but you might get cut until you air.

25:25
Saphira Rasti
And even right up until we got an air date, it was like, there's no guarantee that you'll actually get on.

25:33
Daniel Scharff
That's wild. I can only imagine when I watch the Super bowl, for example, and then you just see the team that loses and it's so crushing. Like, I don't know how they deal with that. Like, I've just put in a year of effort and then I've lost this and now it's going to be a whole nother year till I could actually get the chance to win this. And by the way, only one of the team actually wins, so all of them have to deal with that. And it's interesting to think about it that way because mainly in CPG, you're growing, you're applying to stuff all the time. It's not just one retailer you're counting on, it's a bunch. But with shark tank, man, you put in six months into it. And then they got to the end. They're like, not this year.

26:14
Daniel Scharff
And, yeah, I think they did tell me once that the record was somebody who applied eleven times before they actually got accepted. So there are people out there who just. That rolls off. I'm like, all right, let's go again. But I'm not one of those people that would be crushing for me. So I love your approach on it. So then anything that you can share about what the actual day of recording was like, I know you probably can't share, like who are the sharks or when was it or anything, but anything that you can share about your experience of it.

26:46
Saphira Rasti
Yeah. So leading up, there is a guest shark every time. But you don't know that until. We didn't know until. I think it was the night. No, it was like the night before.

26:59
Maurizio Rasti
Wow.

27:00
Saphira Rasti
Yeah. Because were going to find out, I think our shoot date was on a Tuesday and were going to find out on the weekend because we had done like a last minute kind of video pitch to the producers to make sure that our pitch was good. We were in time. Everything that were saying was cohesive and it was good for the show and they were going to tell us who the guest shark was and were kind of hoping would be a certain person. And then we got the info the night before. So we kind of had a very short amount of time to learn who this person was and do our information on him. But the day of or her. Him or her, they know who's going to be the guest track. Common knowledge.

27:48
Daniel Scharff
Did they already show like a preview of it? Probably. Oh, can you say who it is then? If they've shown it probably we can say who it is, because. Hold on. Editor. So here, let's do it this way. If I can just google it real quick.

28:07
Maurizio Rasti
Sharp. Yeah, google it.

28:08
Daniel Scharff
Daniel March.

28:10
Maurizio Rasti
Yeah. Jason Bloom. Actually, you're right.

28:13
Daniel Scharff
Okay. So I'm just checking right now if I can see it.

28:19
Saphira Rasti
Can we say that it's like they filmed the Halloween?

28:24
Maurizio Rasti
Yeah, I think. Yeah.

28:28
Daniel Scharff
Okay, I got it. Okay, so let me ask a question then. Okay. So I think I saw.

28:35
Maurizio Rasti
Want to cut back then?

28:36
Daniel Scharff
Yeah. Thank you. So I saw in the episode preview that the guest shark for this one is Jason Bloom. So that was the person that you had to research all of a sudden and figure out what their background was and get ready to include their perspective.

28:52
Saphira Rasti
Yeah. And what we found out as well is that I guess people don't really know this, but they filmed two separate air dates in one day. So they had him as a guest shark for the Halloween episode because he was a producer of these horror films. And so when we came in the day of filming, the whole set was set up for Halloween, and they had to completely switch it back for after lunch, which is when our segment was.

29:24
Daniel Scharff
That's so funny because, yeah, when you see the episode air, it's three, four pitches, whatever. And it's the same sharks. So you can kind of presume, like, they must have filmed all of those on the same day, and then once they film them, they have to choose ones that came that day because they can't have people changing outfits and stuff. So that's pretty interesting to think about. Of course, we can't ask you anything at this point around, did you get a deal? Who was it with? How much did you get? What happened? Or did you get crushed but still be able to get your product aired, which, I mean, the most important thing is getting to be aired, right? Because we know something's going to happen for your business.

30:02
Daniel Scharff
So I think the main question I have for you is you're in 80 stores, and I'm sure you do well in all of them, but you're not dealing with millions and millions of units a year. So this is going to be a very significant bump on your volume. Were you able to do anything to prepare for that? Because you know you're going to sell out immediately on all your channels as soon as this goes live. So what, if anything, could you even do to prepare for it at the point where they finally told you.

30:34
Saphira Rasti
It'S been a bit of a challenge to get ready? Only because we're in the middle of finishing up a collaboration, which has been one of our biggest months to date in sales for our online store. And so we're just trying to keep up with that. And so we got the word that we're going to air and it was like, I think it was like a two week heads up or two week heads up. So we had two weeks to essentially hire more staff, get all of our raw materials because we obviously baked to order and try and get as much going as we can in preparation. But there's no real way to prepare because you just don't know how you're going to do on the night. We know we're going to get a bump. We just don't know how much of a bump.

31:21
Patricia Menegoto
Also in the mood of Expo west, so it's like, it's even more wild.

31:26
Saphira Rasti
I know Expo west in itself is such a huge event and for us to be out of the kitchen for three days for that is hard enough. And then obviously now tack on Shark Tank on a Friday.

31:39
Daniel Scharff
I guess the one great thing is that you're in a commercial kitchen so you can quickly at least scale up some production. If you were working with a coman, there's no way to do that on a tight turnaround with, like, ordering ingredients, whatever. And then you're either going to guess and end up with a lot of extra inventory that could expire if you don't get on there. Or in an ideal scenario, you just get the perfect amount. But I'm so excited for you guys. I'm excited for me to get to watch it and then also for expo to get to come by and just check out all of these products and just really indulge in some really delicious, better for you baked treats.

32:16
Daniel Scharff
And then because you guys both brought up fashion, of course, I need to make sure you guys know as well as the whole community about a very exciting activation that we have at our booth. Patricia, do you mind telling everybody about what we've got going on related to fashion?

32:33
Patricia Menegoto
Yeah. We are doing our first ever brand swag fashion show and swag.com is the main sponsor for it and we are so excited to partner with them. But we are going to take the hall of the ACC level three and turn into a fashion show so where brands are going to show off their brand swags because you guys spent just so much time into make your outfit looking so cool and make sure you stand out somehow. So we want to record everyone walking down the aisle. Danielle and I are going to be the host, ask you guys questions about your outfit, and then, of course, we are going to create a whole video and content later on for social media.

33:14
Daniel Scharff
Yes. I'm so excited. I'm just going to assume this is the first ever brand swag fashion show. And Patricia and I, we've both rewatched Zoolander in preparation. So we'll be there like, oh, who's she wearing? Is that a custom tote bag? Oh, a matching fanny pack. Where's that from? So we'll be interviewing people on the not red carpet, but like convention center.

33:42
Patricia Menegoto
Hall carpet Friday at 02:00 p.m. Friday.

33:49
Daniel Scharff
At our booth, which is 800:20 ACC level three, which is up at the top left. If you're looking at the main convention hall, top left section, it's going to be amazing. I think that you guys will really appreciate it with your backgrounds in fashion, but probably it will not live up to your fashion show standards. But we're going to have a good time and were really excited about it. And swag.com, thank you for believing in us to do it. Actually, the idea came out because I was at home hanging out with my mom over Christmas break, and she always will think about stuff for our business. She's the best. And she's like, you should do a fashion show. And she meant like a proper fashion show. I'm like, mom, come on, we can't do that. Wait a minute.

34:35
Daniel Scharff
Actually, yeah, we do have this partnership with swag.com. Let's do a brand swag fashion show at expo because we have the whole set up there. Everyone's going to be there looking great in all the swag. Our team has some very cool drip to show everybody at the show also. And I'm also just excited to see your guys because you showed up so strong to the alley rally party and your threads are incredible. Everything looks good. You guys bring so much energy that I think also is represented in the cool stuff that you guys are wearing. So now I understand that's not just a coincidence that your background also that made that happen. So just to close out any good way for people to follow along with you guys, like LinkedIn, go to your website, all that kind of stuff.

35:22
Saphira Rasti
Yeah, I mean, social media, we're on Instagram and TikTok just at nowhere Bakery. Our website is nowherebakery.com. We post behind the scenes on our stories and try to show as much behind the curtain as we can for people to get a good insight into the business.

35:40
Daniel Scharff
All right. And is it okay if everyone just adds you on LinkedIn also so they can follow along with your posts.

35:47
Saphira Rasti
Yeah, I'll have to update my profile.

35:51
Daniel Scharff
All right. I'm, like, LinkedIn first on almost everything, as well as our startup CBG slack, of course. It's just a great way to kind of stay up to date with people's nudes. Always. All right, thank you guys so much. Nowhere bakery just could not be more excited for you guys and this huge milestone that's taken you guys, not just one run through to get, but two. And so it'll be all the sweeter, I guess, for cookies to actually see this come to fruition. So can't wait to watch this all along with you guys. And I hope that everybody watching this and listening along will jump onto your Instagram and leave some support and buy some delicious treats. Thank you, everybody. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Patricia.

36:41
Maurizio Rasti
All right, thank you, guys. Thank you, Daniel. Thank you, Patty. See you soon. Bye, everybody.

36:45
Daniel Scharff
See you soon.