P-Nuff Crunch is bringing a popular concept to Shark Tank , and hoping to leave with a new infusion of cash.
The healthy snack food company, founded in 2015 by Juan Salinas, is headed to the ABC reality show on the October 23 episode with the hope of scoring an investment from one of the sharks. Snack makers have found plenty of success in the past, especially ones that offer plant-based products like P-Nuff Crunch, though it wasn’t clear before the episode aired whether they got the investment they were seeking.
Regardless of investment, P-Nuff Crunch appears to be on a path to growth. Since it started five years ago, the company has steadily expanded operations and now offers three flavors. It has built up a following on social media and garnered some strong reviews.
As The Cinemaholic noted ahead of the Shark Tank airing, the products are now sold on the P-Nuff Crunch website along with some major retailers, like Walmart and Amazon. The report added some praise for the products as well, noting that they managed to offer a healthy alternative without sacrificing any taste.
“The fact that P-Nuff Crunch is made from peanuts instead of corn also means that although it looks and tastes like junk food, it is actually really good for your well-being,” the report noted. “Even the review’s on the company’s website voice the same opinions, with one consumer even writing that they don’t feel guilty about giving P-Nuff to their kids either, making it a perfect family snack.”
The report added that Salinas had earned some accolades even before bringing his creation to a national audience. P-Nuff Crunch was entered into the Rutgers University Business Plan Competition and won, which the founder said was the sign that he was on the right track.
While he learned quickly just how much work goes into creating a food business and revealed that he would have liked working with a partner to share the work, he said he is happy with how much P-Nuff Crunch has grown since he first came up with the idea for it.
The company had been heavily promoting the Shark Tank episode ahead of Friday as well, drumming up some interest on social media with a post showing a cartoon depiction of the peanut mascot meeting with the show’s sharks. The outfit’s Instagram post attracted some comments from fans of the products who were excited to see a favorite snack getting some national television exposure.