Plant-Based. Flavor-Focused. Chef-Created. Mom-Inspired.
March 1, 2021– (Washington, D.C.) – How do you get a shark to bite? For the über-discerning investors and viewers of ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank,” make it flavorful, make it fun, and show your brand can not only compete in, but will likely disrupt, the $5 billion+ plant-based market – a tall order with a category growing five times faster than overall US retail food sales.
Everything Legendary founders Duane “Myko” Cheers, Danita Claytor, and Jumoke Jackson pitched their palate-pleasing plant-based burger in an energetic, exciting episode of ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank,” which aired Friday, Feb. 26, catching the interest of Shark Mark Cuban who ultimately invested $300,000 for a 22 percent stake in the Metro D.C. start-up. Cuban, a vegetarian himself, adds Everything Legendary to his portfolio of plant-based business investments, which include brands such as Beyond Sushi, Cinnaholic, Snacklins, Veggie Mama, Wild Earth, and others. His investment is already proving to be a good one, as the company sold $250,000 of burgers within 24 hours of the show airing Friday night.
What was it about Everything Legendary that landed a Shark Tank deal when so many others fail? Company CEO Cheers attributes their successful pitch to several factors, including a product with natural ingredients that give great-tasting flavor, a texture that promises to set a new standard for the plant-based meat market, and a high-energy, strategic founding team that has shown that they are not afraid to take risks to get a premium product in front of consumers and industry influencers.
“All the Sharks agreed it was the best-tasting plant-based burger they’d ever tried,” Cheers observed. “Barbara Corcoran felt it was priced too high, but Mark Cuban understood that the quality of the product set it apart. Lori Greiner loved the product, but didn’t like the packaging. Again, Mark understood that our packaging was still being refined and that he could help with that.”
Cheers says that Cuban’s investment was “an absolute game-changer” for their brand, allowing them to increase product capacity and assure seamless national distribution.
“This gives us the resources that allow us to position our brand against any competitor, where I know we will win on the flavor and quality,” Cheers stated. “For me, this investment is extremely personal. It is validation of my ‘never give up’ philosophy. I heard ‘no’ 1,000,001 times over the years, but this one ‘yes’ moment changes everything.”
This metro D.C. trio started Everything Legendary making plant-based burgers by hand from a recipe developed by partner and chef, Jumoke Jackson. The result is a great-tasting burger with nuanced flavor, has the mouthfeel and texture of meat, yet is free of artificial preservatives, has no GMOs, and contains no soy. According to Cheers, their tasty, healthy, plant-based burger was inspired by their mothers – aka The Legends. CEO Duane “Myko” Cheers’ mother Darlene is a vegan living with lupus, and President Danita Claytor’s mom Honey was battling cancer at the time. Both mothers were searching for healthy food that actually tasted good, and their kids were determined to make that happen. If their moms wouldn’t eat bland, unhealthy food, they decided no one else should either.
“We knew from the start that taste is everything,” explained Cheers. “It began with a search for something healthy and good-tasting that our mothers would want to eat. Once we had that, we took it to the streets with pop-up stores and street festival sampling, and let the community taste it for themselves. We all know that today’s consumers are demanding that their food be nutritious and supercharged with flavor. Our brand delivers. It’s Mom-Approved. And now, it’s also Shark-Sanctioned.”
Cheers, a Morgan State University graduate and Claytor, a Howard University and Bowie State University graduate, together with Chef Jackson have shared their collective HBCU education and experience in finance, education, multi-media production and hospitality to create the business model that fuels Everything Legendary.
The Black-owned brand has already begun to attract the attention of major retailers, including Acme, Giant, and Safeway, with additional grocers ready to put the products in their frozen and refrigerated meat cases in spring and summer 2021. The team has also brought on staff to ramp up distribution to the hospitality industry, their e-commerce website, www.golegendary.com, and to invest in their innovation pipeline for more great-tasting, plant-based products in the future.
About Everything Legendary
Everything Legendary, founded by Duane “Myko” Cheers, Danita Claytor, and Chef Jumoke Jackson, is leading the flavor revolution with a line of healthy, plant-based ground meat and burger patties. Inspired by moms, created by a chef, and taste-tested by the community, Everything Legendary is a Black-owned company that goes above and beyond the impossible to deliver food with legendary flavor and superior quality at retailers nationwide, in restaurants, and online at https://golegendary.com/. Join them for recipes, tutorials, product information, and more: Everything Legendary. Socialize with them: Instagram and Facebook.
