Gumbo update: What happened to the Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner’s invested product after Shark Tank?

A new season of Shark Tank was released on October 18, 2024, in which new entrepreneurs showcase their business presentations to various investors to get funding for their products. Shark Tank initially launched on August 9, 2009, and has seen multiple products that have appeared on the show and gone on to become a hit in the market.

One such business was Carole Foster's Mee-Ma's Gumbo, which is a frozen stew. It was showcased it front of Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary, and Lori Greiner. From the inception of the product to Carole's personal journey, Mee-Ma's Gumbo saw a lot of ups and downs.

The sharks liked the product at first but failed to invest in it as they had doubts about its longevity. Kevin O'Leary and Lori Greiner teamed up to chalk up some cash for Carole, but the promise didn't materialize. Despite all the setbacks, Mee-Ma's Gumbo remains in business and it products can be ordered online and through various local retailers in Los Angeles.

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Journey of Mee-Ma's Gumbo before and after Shark Tank explored

In 2013, Mee-Ma's Gumbo appeared in season 4 episode 23 of Shark Tank where the mastermind of the product asked for $200k in exchange for 20% of the company for the frozen gumbo packets. Gumbo is a stew that was originally made by Black slaves consisting of stock meat and shellfish and is the official state cuisine of Louisiana.

After briefly introducing herself to the Shark Tank investors, Carole revealed that she didn't have the capital to fulfill large orders in Costco. She also offered the judges her seafood and chicken versions of the product. The sharks expressed their delight after tasting the product which led to Carole disclosing her initial Costco sales of the past two years, which was approximately $500,000.

Mark Cuban was the first shark to back out from investing in the product. He stated that despite enjoying what the product had to offer, he felt that she wanted to scale up too soon. Robert Herjavec gave Carole some advice and asked her to find a partner so that the business was more sustainable moving forward. Daymond John also stated similar reasons as previous judges and backed out.

With only Kevin O'Leary and Lori Greiner remaining, Carole lost hope when the two sharks expressed concerns over the lack of infrastructure to support scaling up. This led to Carole's confession that her business was not making much profit as all the revenue was going towards family affairs. Carole also revealed that she was living on a friend's couch or in a van most of the time.

Kevin O'Leary and Lori Greiner decided to team up on a rare occurrence and offered Carole's desired $200,000 for 50% of the company which the latter accepted.

After the appearance on Shark Tank, Mee-Ma's Gumbo had its share of troubles. The official website of the product shut down due to the exploded traffic and demand after the episode aired. Carole apologized through Facebook and revealed that the Shark Tank showrunners only let her know that her episode would air just days before it went live:

"OK, folks... I know you've been e-mailing and going to the website, which is absolutely useless at this point. Truth is, our air date was release 8 days before broadcast and the website had not been built out," wrote Carole.

The Kevin O'Leary and Lori Grenier deal never went through and Carole even wrote a book titled Shark Pranked: How I Got Jerked Around By That Stupid "Investor" Show.

Even without the investment money, Mee-Ma's Gumbo has survived to this day and added to the list of offered products like monkey bread dough, pie filling, and microwaveable jambalaya. Carole also often gives updates on the product through her Facebook profile.