Shark Tank Update: What happened to Fresh Bellies after the show?

Saskia Sorrosa appeared on Shark Tank season 10, episode 13, to pitch her fresh baby food company, Fresh Bellies. She explained that her company seasons vegetables with herbs and spices, like garlic, instead of relying on fruit sugars. This specially formulated recipe helps babies develop their palates, making them less likely to become picky eaters as they grow.

Sorrosa asked for $275,000 for 5%, however, she had to level the stage empty-handed with no deals in her pocket. The same year in 2019, the company decided to switch from the fresh baby food segment to the kid's snacking category as they were struggling to reach a wider consumer base.

The decision worked in their favor and according to Shark Tank Success, the company’s annual revenue reached approximately $6 million by 2021.

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Fresh Bellies' growth after Shark Tank appearance

Saskia Sorrosa mentioned in her Shark Tank pitch that retailers were willing to invest refrigerated baby food segment and weren't even charging to shelve Fresh Bellies.

Hoping to drive growth in this segment, retailers shifted their focus, allocating shelf space originally reserved for other products. However, this led to a further price increase in an already high-priced category, which discouraged consumers from making purchases.

This posed a challenge for Sorrosa's venture and she diverted her resources to the kid's snacking category. In an interview with FoodNavigator-USA, published on November 1, 2021, she explained that the fresh baby food segment was an expensive business for a small company, and her products were limited to a few hundred stores, struggling to find refrigerated shelf space.

"It was very costly as a startup with limited resources, and it just wasn't sustainable for us. When we looked beyond baby food and looked at what children ate as they got older, we realized that the options for children get worse as they get older," Sorrosa said.

In 2019, the Shark Tank contestant significantly boosted her company’s growth by launching a line of shelf-stable snacks for kids, which contributed to a dramatic expansion of the company’s distribution footprint.

"That is the product that put us on the map in a big way, we went from a couple of hundred stores with our baby food to 2,000 stores by the end of 2019 with toddler snacks, and 4,000 stores by the end of last year," Sorrosa shared.

Focusing on snacks, Fresh Bellies went on to release its Groovies line of sorghum-based puffs with added vegetable powder for preschool-aged children. Sorrosa said that she wanted to offer something for "kids to transition into as kids go from toddler snacks to regular adult snacks or Goldfish crackers and Annie's Bunnies." She added:

"Parents still struggle today on how do I get more vegetables into my child's diet ... and when they can find something that their child will happily eat that's not a struggle, it's a winner. And that's exactly the need that we're trying to meet."

In 2020, Fresh Bellies' toddler snacks saw a remarkable 300% growth, followed by a doubling of that growth in 2021. According to Shark Tank Success, the company’s annual revenue reached approximately $6 million by 2021.

The Shark Tank contestant further shared in her FoodNavigator-USA interview that they are "continuing to see growth year over year" and demand for their products and their "velocities continue to improve." Sorrosa's goal every year is to expand their family snacking set with healthier, never before seen ingredients in that line."

In March 2024, Fresh Bellies was even featured on The Today Show's segment dedicated to highlighting women-owned, nutritious food companies. Currently, Fresh Bellies snacks can be found in a long list of stores including Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, Sprouts, and Kroger. The products are also available to purchase on their website.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes are currently airing on ABC.