Snacklins: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank

Delicious, crunchy fried pork rinds were off limits to Samy Kobrosly, whose Muslim faith prohibits the consumption of pork. Rather than forgo the snack altogether, Samy accepted a dare from friends one night at a bar, to create his own vegan, pork-free version of pork rinds. They thought they were just being funny, but Samy took the charge seriously, experimenting with ingredients and recipes, eventually creating a meatless, plant-based chip that both looked and tasted a lot like pork rinds. So much so that his chef friends started requesting it for their restaurants and bars, thus beginning a burgeoning snack food business that Samy officially founded in 2016. What started as a joke among friends became known as Snacklins — the name being a play on the word cracklins, a Cajun treat of fried, meaty pork fat.

The secret to Samy's faux pork was the right combo of simple ingredients. Snacklins are made with yuca (a root vegetable similar to potato), mushrooms, onions, spices, sunflower oil, and that's it. With far fewer calories than greasy pork rinds, Snacklins was a healthier alternative to big snack market competitors like Doritos. Along with being vegetarian and vegan (there are no animal products in Snacklins), the puffy chips are gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, and non-GMO. Snacklins are also 100% kosher and do not contain real pork, suitable for a halal Muslim diet. Samy took that dare and generated over $1 million in sales with it, before ever stepping foot on "Shark Tank."

In 2019, Samy Kobrosly took his Snacklins where no vegan pork rind had gone before, seeking investment on ABCs "Shark Tank," where he appeared in Season 11, Episode 4. He laid out his mission to the Sharks at the start, which was to create a healthy junk food snack akin to pork rinds, cracklins, or chicharrones, but without the meat. He gave the Sharks samples to try, explaining that "they're made with real ingredients that a 6-year-old can pronounce," emphasizing Snacklins appeal within the health and natural foods snack market, and that they are only 80 calories for the whole bag. He tells them that the reason he is there is because as his company expands, "those big boys, they're gunning for us," in reference to his corporate competitors, and that he "needs a shark on his side" to go up against them.

Samy's ask was for a $250,000 investment for a 2.5% stake in Snacklins, which was valued at $10 million. When Shark Barbara Corcoran heard this, she exclaimed that Samy was a cheapskate. He then explained that he only owned 30% of the company and had given equity shares to employees and family. When Mark expressed concern at this, Samy told him, "I used to own 100% of nothing. I am living the American dream. I am a Muslim, first generation American, who is now pitching a vegan pork rind on 'Shark Tank.'" Mark thought that was awesome.

The real pitch came when Samy trotted out some impressive numbers; he told the Sharks that Snacklins sales in 2018 were $200,000 and projected to finish 2019 at $2 million. He boasted of having grown the company 10-fold in the previous year, with Snacklins available in over 850 stores nationwide, including Walmart, Whole Foods, and 7-Eleven. Mark Cuban then asked what a bag of Snacklins sells for versus their cost. The numbers were not as impressive, with a low selling price of $1.99 but high overhead at 90 cents per bag. As Mark bluntly put it, "Your margins aren't awesome, that's part of the problem."

While the Sharks seemed cautiously enthusiastic until this point, things took a turn when Samy told them he had built his own factory for producing Snacklins. Barbara responds by saying that you need a lot of capital in the food space, and having lost money in similar investments, she was out. Shark Lori Greiner and guest Shark Rohan Oza expressed concern about the valuation and that he had his own manufacturing facility. Surprisingly, that's when Mark Cuban jumped in to say they were all wrong. He offered a $250,000 investment in Snacklins in return for a higher stake of 5%, plus 5% in advisory shares. Sam accepted without hesitation.

In a November 2021 Snacklins follow-up that aired on "Shark Tank" Season 13, Episode 5, Samy Kobrosly reported that before going on the show, his company had been struggling to keep up with production, they were doing everything by hand, and not turning a profit. "Within 1 week of airing on 'Shark Tank,' we had like $100,000 in sales, more sales than we'd ever gotten before. In just 2 years, Snacklins has surpassed 5.3 million dollars in sales."

Since appearing on "Shark Tank," Snacklins' sales continued to grow, with more retail locations on the West and East coasts, and expansion into the Midwest. The company hired more staff, and the Snacklins packaging was given a rebrand, featuring wide-open mouths that emphasize a fun approach to snacking, and feature the brand's slogan, Eat The Whole Bag.

Snacklins struggled during the height of the pandemic. To regroup, an updated e-commerce website was created offering online sales and subscriptions, a larger 3-ounce sharing-sized bag was added to the company's offerings, product improvements were made, and new flavors were added. In an interview with Forbes Magazine, Snacklins CEO Kevin Blesy said that in a move to keep all of the company's products allergen-free, a new teriyaki sauce flavor was brought in to replace the miso-ginger, which contained soy. While Snacklins were originally 80 calories per serving when Samy first went on "Shark Tank," the updated product was now at 100 calories per single-serving bag.

Mark Cuban's initial "Shark Tank" investment in Samy Kobrosly's vision was a success for both of them. Snacklins can now be found in over 2,500 retail locations, including Bristol Farms, Erewhon, H-E-B, Gelson's, Lassens, Mother's, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and Wegmans.

Flavor options have expanded to six varieties, including Barbeque, Chesapeake Bay, Cinnamon Churro, Nacho, Teriyaki, and Sea Salt & Vinegar, and are now available in snack-sized 0.9-ounce bags, in 3-ounce sharing-sized bags, and can also be ordered in a variety pack that comes with all six flavors. There have also been limited edition releases, such as a collaboration with the chili sauce company Fly By Jing on the Mala Spice Mix, a blend made with 11 herbs and spices, created as an homage to the hot and spicy Sichuan peppercorn.

Snacklins now has a storefront on Amazon where its products can be purchased, and online ordering is also available on the company's own website, Snacklins.com. The brand has a Facebook page with over 4,000 followers but has a much larger following on Instagram with 19.4K followers on the platform. There have not been many recent social media updates, however, with no new Facebook posts since August 2022, and the last Instagram post being from April 2023 with a picture of Samy Kobrosly and a note soliciting more investors.

A Wefunder page has been set up for Snacklins, which is seeking another round of investments. Over $20,000 of its $100,000 goal has been reached. The page introduces Doug Bouton, the co-founder of Halo Top ice cream, as Snacklins' Chief Business Officer. The business information website Crunchbase notes that in an effort to further expand, Snacklins is "actively seeking investment to scale up."

Early on in Snacklins development, the company incubated with Union Kitchen, a food startup accelerator that offers services to local Washington D.C. area entrepreneurs, including access to shared kitchen facilities. Union Kitchen has invested $1 million in Snacklins, far more than even the original "Shark Tank" support from Mark Cuban. Samy Kobrosly credits the support and structure provided by Union Kitchen as having helped his company to succeed.

Despite its name suggesting otherwise, Union Kitchen is being accused by its employees of union busting, along with wage theft, and breaking labor laws with illegal firings. The organizing group, United Kitchen Workers, is calling for a boycott of Union Kitchen's retail stores — which carry Snacklins products. While the boycott is directed at Union Kitchen and not the products it sells or companies it invests in, it remains to be seen how the boycott will affect the Snacklins brand.