Shark Tank's season 8, episode 1 in 2016 featured the comfort food delivery service Spoonful of Comfort. Marti Wymer, who created it, came up with the idea after learning that her mother had cancer.

According to the Shark Tank Blog, Wymer was raising her three kids in Florida while her mother resided in Canada's New Brunswick. Wymer had the notion to launch a courier service for homemade soups after feeling desperate to deliver her mother something warm.

People in similar situations could send soups to their near and dear ones by using this service. Sadly, Wymer's mother passed away a few weeks later, before the company had gotten going. Eventually, Wymer created Spoonful of Comfort in memory of her mother to make sending comfort easier across different states.

Wymer provides a complete warranty for each and every basket delivered. Her business also guarantees that it would be created and distributed with the same care that she would show her mother. But what exactly is Spoonful of Comfort, and what do they offer?

What is Spoonful of Comfort?

A fantastic method to express your care and concern and warmest wishes to a friend or family member is by giving them a Spoonful of Comfort.

A spoonful of Comfort offers a unique gourmet gift or care hamper to its buyers. It is a company that delivers soups with a focus on comforting cuisine. In times of need, soups made with only natural ingredients are distributed to friends and family across the country.

Originally intended as a present for ill family members, this care package has significantly evolved. Pregnancy care kits and birthday care kits have been added to their offerings in recent times.

Its core offerings:

Three different soup varieties are available: tomato basil, potato leek, and chicken noodle. These soups are provided the next day in 64-ounce containers and serve 4-6 people. This care package was first meant to be a gift for sick family members. But now, the bundle comes with pregnancy and birthday care items.

A handmade card note, one serving spoon, 64 ounces of soup, and six various kinds of cookies made with sugar, chocolate chip, and other ingredients are included in each culinary care box. Customers can add blankets, tea, and motivational books at an additional fee in addition to their original contents. The package currently costs $69 per hamper.

They currently offer a number of packages that range from vegan to gluten-free options. They even offer college care packages for kids studying away from the comfort of their homes. Their current lowest-priced gift basket is their cookie comforts box that's priced at $34.99.

Additionally, they offer a variety of unique extra care items you can add to a purchase. Some of the extra care items are doggy treats, cozy socks, cold care kits, and so on. They even offer a special corporate care package for companies. They currently ship to all 50 states within the US, but will not be shipping products internationally as several food items in the care package are perishable.

Now that we know a bit about the company and its offerings, let's take a look at its founder.

The founder of Spoonful of Comfort: Wymer Martie

The business was founded by Marti Wymer, who functions as CEO of Spoonful of Comfort today. Additionally, Scott Gustafson has joined the company as an investor. The brand was created in the midst of adverse circumstances. At the time, Wymer had recently learned that her mother had lung cancer.

Wymer wished to give her mother comfort during the trying time. According to the official website, she claims that while other family members had the opportunity to console her mother, she was unable to do so because of the distance.

Sadly, Wymer's mother passed away before she could savor her soup. She founded Spoonful of Comfort in honor of her mother in order to prevent other families from going through the same grief.

She wished for her clients to purchase gifts for their loved ones rather than for financial gain. The inventiveness of Spoonful of Comfort was attested to by a small subset of its customers. They sold more than a million dollars worth of goods before going on Shark Tank.

So what happened when they did go on Shark Tank?

Spoonful of Comfort's Shark Tank Pitch

Owners of the Spoonful of Comfort brand, Marti Wymer and Scott Gustafson, presented their company on Shark Tank in 2016. They asked for a $400,000 investment in exchange for 10% equity. The Sharks seemed to experience some dissatisfaction when she presented the Spoonful of Comfort.

The major problem was that the couple had already invested $1.3 Million in the company without seeing any results. The Sharks made it apparent which areas needed improvement, starting with their high client acquisition cost of $18 per transaction, which had to be slashed. Second, their marketing required a strong push to achieve a pricing point that will encourage repeat purchases. Additionally, it cost a lot of money to ship, took 3–4 days to arrive, and was delivered too late.

Finally, the Sharks refused to make any offer stating that the business was just not built on a sustainable model.

So what happened to Spoonful of Comfort after the pitch?

Spoonful of Comfort's Journey Thus Far

Following the episode, the company received swift support from the public, giving Spoonful of Comfort much-needed respite. Fortunately, during these trying times, Sharks undervalued the influence of nutritional gifts. The company initially experienced a few hiccups owing to delayed or missed delivery.

But since then, Spoonful of Comfort has received overwhelmingly good reviews from clients who genuinely appreciate its sumptuous cuisine and quality gift baskets.

The Sharks' advice regarding scalability appears to have been taken seriously by the creators and business owners. They released new cookie-only bundles on August 29, 2017. As stated on the company's site, people can purchase two to four dozen of their favorite cookie varieties for free delivery.

The company also provides a handwritten note on which you can add an extra to the package. Two cookie packages are available for $19.99. They added the inexpensive choice to the list so that those who could afford them wouldn't be completely shut out. Another recent development on their website is add-ons during payment.

The business is a success and is doing well in terms of sales as well.

If people wish to focus on saving money, they can also subscribe to special discounts. A Spoonful of Comfort's success story soared thanks to effective marketing methods. By giving the most crucial source of solace to those in need, the business flourished even during the pandemic. A Spoonful of Comfort turned out to be the favored gift of choice for many people throughout the country despite the physical isolation that was in place.

When Spoonful of Comfort made an appearance on Shark Tank, it was valued at $4 million. However, the care package service founded by Marti Wymer and Scott Gustafson is now a massive success and has a net value of roughly $68 million.

Right now, it doesn't matter that Spoonful of Comfort did not receive funding from Shark Tank. It's still a flourishing business. Spoonful of Comfort is a terrific option if you're searching for a creative, heartfelt, and special gourmet gift.

Have a business idea in mind? Here's how you too can get started

Step 1: 🛒Setup your Ecommerce Store

For the second half of 2022, retail eCommerce sales in the US alone totaled about $257 billion. This is an increase of 2.7% compared to the previous quarter. The most effective marketing tool you will ever have is your eCommerce website.

1. For instance, with effective SEO, your eCommerce marketplace will show up in the top SERP results. Additionally, social media platforms will give you a venue to interact with and gain your clients' confidence through ratings and feedback.
2. So where do you start? If you take a quick look at the Shark Tank contestants, you’ll get a straightforward solution- Shopify! This article highlights Shopify’s stronghold on the eCommerce sector, with 11 out of 13 brands choosing Shopify as their preferred platform to sell. Moreover, several popular Shark Tank brands like Bombas, Buttercloth, and more sell their products on Shopify.

Step 2: 💌 Start Sending Newsletters

Global email user numbers were projected to reach 4.3 billion in 2022. In 2025, this number is projected to increase to 4.6 billion, accounting for more than half of the projected global population.

Additionally, this Forbes article highlighted the impact email marketing had in the lives of successful Shark Tank contestants.

They found that email is the preferred medium for communication for 72 percent of buyers over any other platform. You can access an incredible customer base through email, and the best way to do it for your business is to invest in a solution that helps you create captivating content. If you’re looking for solutions to try out, these are among the best in the email marketing industry:

1) Awesome Send

Awesome Send is designed to empower ecommerce firms to attract and retain consumers, with a plethora of high-converting emails templates. Awesome Send also offers a robust Shopify integration that helps you connect information between your online store and email strategy seamlessly. Awesome Send's solution is accessible to all at a $39 flat with all features for users worldwide.

2) GetResponse

Get Response includes a good amount of tools that can boost your sales, like sales tracking, empty cart campaigns, and integrations with marketplaces like Magento and Shopify. GetResponse Free offers a free plan. But it has a monthly email send cap of 2500 newsletters for individuals with fewer than 500 subscribers. However, if you want to use capabilities like marketing automation or e-commerce features, things can get pricey very quickly.

Step 3: ⚡Grow your audience on social media

According to the most recent social media figures, there will be 4.59 billion social media users globally in 2022, and this number will only increase over the following several years (Statista, 2022). That currently represents around 57.5% of the world's population. Social media is the cornerstone of every successful marketing campaign in current times.

A wonderful example of an organization that has built its brand on the foundation of an effective social media approach is Grace & Lace from Shark Tank Season 5. When the entrepreneurs initially entered the tank, they asserted that their DTC site accounted for 90% of their more than $800k in revenues and that they hadn't yet spent a single penny on marketing. The business's socks profited from having over 34k incredibly engaged Facebook followers on top of being a popular pin on Pinterest.

Social media is about interacting and engaging; it's about establishing and sustaining relationships and using those interactions to promote your professional aspirations. And having genuine conversations is the sole strategy to do that.

You must be willing to pay attention, genuinely listen to what your community has to say and create consistent, high-quality content. So how can you do that with several competitors vying for the same success? Invest in a social media management platform!

1)    Awesome Social

With Awesome Social, your go-to social media scheduler, you can publish to all platforms simultaneously, share your content ideas with your team, manage numerous accounts from a single window, and seamlessly organize social media posts. Awesome Social is ideal for people seeking straightforward social media management features and offers four flexible pricing plans that start at $16 which you can choose from according to your unique needs.

2)    Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another great social media management app, however it functions more like a suite of tools for managing social media. You can manage your social media scheduling, inbox, mentions, and analytics with this web and mobile application. Sprout Social is a strong, comprehensive solution with a tonne of capabilities for the sophisticated social media marketer. However, its $249 introductory price may not be ideal for small businesses or independent owners who cannot make full use of its complex capabilities.