We had a great time last week in Dallas, Texas launching Chapul into Central Market. To help with the launch, we were joined by Mark Cuban and his dedicated all-star team. That’s right, Mark rolled up his sleeves, put on the Chapul apron, and helped us hand out samples to Central Market customers at three of their locations.
For those of you that aren’t aware, Mark became an investor in Chapul during Season 5, Episode 21 of ABC’s hit show, Shark Tank in March of 2014. Since then, he and his staff have been tremendously helpful, and we would not be experiencing the growth that we are without them. This past week definitely felt like we had gained much more than an investor, but truly felt like we had joined the team, as we demoed our Chapul cricket bars next to other Mark Cuban companies like Monkey Mat and Simple Sugars.
It couldn’t have taken place in a better environment either, as Central Market is such a great fit for our bars. In the 20 years they have been open they have shown a dedicated commitment to high quality standards, bringing in only fresh, healthy, and hand-selected products. We extend a big thank you to their team, as it can often be hard to get onto retail shelves especially because we are 1) a smaller company competing with the larger brands; and 2) introducing a new product and ingredient (yup, cricket flour) never before seen on American shelves.
It certainly helps that our company values are very similarly aligned with Central Market’s. For example, In Central Market’s own words, they “spend every day celebrating what food is all about: bringing people together,” believing that “food is a way of uniting families and communities to one collective dinner table, of preserving our cultures and our traditions. And that is something that should be celebrated every day.” We couldn’t agree more. We are always especially eager to share our mission of providing a healthier, more sustainable food supply to families shopping together.
One of Mark Cuban’s points of pride for his involvement in Shark Tank is that the show is the number one show watched by families in the United States. We obviously share that excitement and of the 8 million viewers who watched our episode, we hope that we inspired at least a few family conversations about food, where it comes from, and how it affects our health and our future. So we again, a big thank you to Central Market and the Mark Cuban team. . .we are happy to have joined the family.