Television Reality TV
ABC
ByRussell Murray
As if munching on cookies wasn't indulgent enough, now a devilishly delicious invention allows you to add alcohol to the mix.
The aptly named Dirty Cookie was originally conceived as a cookie shot glass by Shahira Marei, a 33-year-old entrepreneur from Orange County whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt when she was 5 years old. When she appeared on ABC's popular reality investing program,"Shark Tank," in 2022, viewers learned that Marei had dreamed of starting her own business when she was 10 years old, inspired by her father's professional accomplishments and later motivated by his apparent belief that her gender would limit her success.
Marei proved him wrong in 2013 when she became Boeing's youngest female project manager at the age of 23. However, when she welcomed her first child just three years later, Marei realized that — having already reached many lofty goals she'd set for herself — she needed to make good on her childhood dream. With a Pinterest-worthy idea and the help of one of Boeing's skilled engineers, she founded Dirty Cookie in 2015.After years of profitability despite the COVID-19 pandemic, she went on "Shark Tank," hoping they could solve a major flaw in her business model.
Dirty Cookie had an even dirtier secret – its manufacturing problems
ABC
In Season 13, Episode 21 of "Shark Tank," Shahira Marei seeks $500,000 in exchange for just 5% of Dirty Cookie — valuing her 7-year-old business at a fiscally dubious $10 million based on an "industry standard" calculation and an ambitious $6 million sales projection for 2023.
The product is simple: cookies of various flavors baked into small, fillable shapes that have the potential to be customized depending on the occasion or client. While Dirty Cookie had sold an impressive amount of product — thanks in part to some COVID-savvy pivoting, with Marei introducing DIY cookie kits to compensate for canceled catering contracts — Marei's net revenue was startlingly slow. Due to her relying on a team of 15 workers to make the cookies by hand, Marei's production overhead greatly infringes upon her output. Her solution is a specialized Italian machine that could take her from making 1,500 Dirty Cookies a week to 4,000 in an hour. There's just one problem — it costs $400,000 to acquire.
Citing this glaring manufacturing issue in addition to competition and uncertainty, four of the five sharks decline to invest, leaving Lori Greiner open to pitch an aggressive offer: $250,000 for 25% (decimating her valuation to $1 million) with a $250,000 loan at an 8% interest rate. However, something about this deal catchesRobert Herjavec'sattention, inspiring a much more attractive offer: $500,000 for 25% — or 15%, if Dirty Cookie meets its $6 million projections. After some consideration, Marei takes the deal, with both her and her new shark partner betting on the success of Dirty Cookie's 2023 sales.
Did Dirty Cookie close their deal with Robert Herjavec?
ABC
As our most avid "Shark Tank" readers are likely already aware, the handshake deals made during an episode — while genuine — do not ultimately constitute a successful business partnership after the cameras stop rolling. Though Robert Herjavec clearly saw promise in both Dirty Cookie and entrepreneur Shahira Marei, he'd still need to investigate the finer details of the business more thoroughly, doing his own due diligence while his lawyers and accountants do theirs.
The initial aim of due diligence is primarily to verify claims made by the entrepreneur during the show. As both parties wait for this process to finish so a formal contract can be made and signed, any number of variables can cause either side to walk away (ranging from uncovered deception to the entrepreneur simply changing their mind about the terms of the deal).
Several websites, including the "Shark Tank"-dedicated journal and database Shark Tank Blog, claim without citation that Herjavec and Marei had not closed their deal as of December 2022 and it was unlikely to go through. While this can't be verified by the shark's personal website, a lack of a firm deal indicates that either or both parties were hesitant to move forward. It's certainly not promising that the Dirty Cookie website has no mention of "Shark Tank" beyond an "as seen on" graphic on their homepage, which is rare among their "Tank" peers.
That said, Dirty Cookie did enjoy the benefits of the Shark Tank Effect and found themselves featured on "Good Morning America."They also collaborated with another "Shark Tank" company called Nuts 'N More, which Herjavec invested in alongside Mark Cuban.
Dirty Cookie gets clean for a cause
ABC
The most powerful moment of Shahira Marei's "Shark Tank" pitch was her willingness to speak candidly about her experience growing up with so much pressure to succeed just because of her gender. It makes sense then that she'd use her company to help ensure that any child, regardless of gender, can receive the education they deserve. Through Dirty Cookie's Shot for Education initiative, a portion of all proceeds are donated to partnering charities, which have previously included Girls Who Code, Citizen Schools, The New Teaching Project, Students Rising Above, and the child trafficking prevention organization The Freedom Story.
They've also expanded their product line to include "Stuffed Cookies," which are exactly what they sound like. Though they offer three admittedly mouth-watering flavors (red velvet, Nutella, and peanut butter and jelly, as of writing), the departure from the unique cookie shot to a more traditional cookie will undoubtedly see them committing considerable resources to compete in an increasingly crowded market.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
Can Dirty Cookie become the top premium cookie brand?
ABC
On an episode of "The Daily Grind" podcast from January 2023, Shahira Marei shared that she developed the stuffed cookie to lean harder into the "dirty" and "fun" image she envisioned for the company. Though they offer vegan and gluten-free products to include all cookie fans in the fun, Marei wants to keep the company deliciously unhealthy so customers can cut loose and indulge their sweet tooth.
Unfortunately, the premium cookie space is surprisingly competitive, dominated by the viral national chain Crumbl Cookies. The company had even filed lawsuits against other premium cookie brands, as the similar marketing, branding, packaging, and products among the various stores had given way to allegations of copyright infringement. For Dirty Cookie's stuffed gambit to pay off, they'll need to stand out somehow from competitors in a depressingly homogenized industry that mostly offers a similar edible experience in a variety of flavors.
However, when asked what her future aspirations for Dirty Cookie were, Marei seemed focused almost entirely on expanding the impact of her charitable endeavors. She hopes to grow her business to the point that she can fund direct support to underdeveloped countries, such as the building of schools.
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