The Bumbling Bee: Here's What Happened After Shark Tank

Valued at an estimated $1.3 billion in 2023, the food truck industry in America is booming, and is projected to grow even further in the future. And why would it not? Although there are red flags to consider when eating at food trucks, they offer quick sustenance while also giving people the opportunity to try new foods that they might not usually. Besides, it's an excellent way for budding restaurateurs to test the waters without investing in a costly brick-and-mortar establishment or committing to a permanent location. This is one of the reasons why Cassandra Ayala opened The Bumbling Bee in 2019 — a food truck that, according to its company website, is a "vegan junkfood & burger bar" on wheels.

Before appearing on Season 12, Episode 22 of "Shark Tank" with her daughter India, Ayala worked as a real estate investment broker with her husband — until the market crash forced her to invest her savings elsewhere. The industrious entrepreneur started with a hot dog cart, and worked her way up until she had four food trucks to her company's name. Hoping to involve her daughters in the flourishing business with something that interested them, Ayala found a way to incorporate her second daughter Olivia's passion for vegan food into her hot dogs. Thus, The Bumbling Bee was born, offering vegan versions of meaty sandwiches, burgers, southern fried chicken, hot dogs, and milkshakes.

The year before the mother-daughter duo appeared on "Shark Tank," The Bumbling Bee had already generated $194,000 in sales from its single food truck and a newly opened brick-and-mortar establishment in Virginia Beach. Additionally, the company had made over $320,000 in the following year despite a brief hiatus for its food truck — thanks largely to the opening of a second restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. To support the ongoing expansion, the entrepreneurs sought a $150,000 investment from the Sharks in exchange for a 10% stake in the company.

However, while the Sharks appreciated The Bumbling Bee's delicious vegan offerings and spoke highly of its founder, they expressed reservations about the business. The concept of vegan junk food was not novel, and the Sharks struggled to identify what set The Bumbling Bee apart from its competitors, or what would prevent others from easily replicating its model. Daniel Lubetzky later clarified in that the company's two distant locations also contributed to his reluctance to invest.

"It's [very] tough to start a business at all, let alone to do it in [two] states that are so far away. To avoid brand dilution, I'd opt for picking [one] location in which to establish yourself first," he commented on X, formerly known as Twitter. The general sentiment was that The Bumbling Bee did not appear to be an investable business at that moment, resulting in the entrepreneurs leaving without any offers.

Entrepreneurs go on "Shark Tank" to obtain investment and guidance from a Shark, so leaving without a deal can be disheartening. However, appearing on the show brings significant benefits, particularly in terms of publicity for small businesses.

Post-show, The Bumbling Bee's Virginia Beach and Boulder locations experienced an influx of new customers — some local residents who were previously unaware of the business, and others who traveled hours to try its plant-based burgers. The entrepreneurs expressed immense gratitude on Instagram, stating they were "overcome with joy at all of the love and support everyone has shown us" following their television appearance. The subsequent weeks were so busy that they found themselves understaffed, struggling to serve the long lines of customers.

Despite these successes, The Bumbling Bee faced challenges. Cassandra Ayala announced on Facebook that the Virginia Beach location was closing in June 2021 due to issues with the leased space. Although she intended to reopen in a new spot and was exploring potential locations at the time, the situation appeared to be less than ideal.

Sadly, The Bumbling Bee is no longer in business. Although the company experienced initial success post-"Shark Tank," its troubles escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cassandra Ayala admitted on a Facebook post that the pandemic left her without enough staff to run her restaurants, eventually leading to the closure of the location in Boulder, Colorado. She also had to close the shutters on one of her two food trucks, nicknamed Daisy and Dixie, which used to tour the Hampton Roads area and appeared at vegan festivals along the East Coast.

Though Ayala had planned to reopen the Virginia Beach eatery at another location, "There was not [enough] money left to find a new location and open a new restaurant," she explained in the social media post. The Bumbling Bee did try to stay afloat with its sole food truck, and for a brief period, things started to look better.

In September 2023, The Bumbling Bee signed a contract with food service company Aramark, planning for its food truck to begin serving at the William & Mary College campus in Williamsburg, Virginia. Ayala even invested another $10,000 into the business in hopes of reviving it. However, she stated that "they [Aramark] defaulted on promises of a guarantee and minimal to no advertising that put us in a financial position that we could not continue to go forward." This was the final nail in the coffin that led to The Bumbling Bee dissolving as a business.

Cassandra Ayala wrote in the same Facebook post, "I believe we would've had an amazing brand without Covid and the obstacles that surrounded us over the 24 to 36 months. [It] was just exhausting and mentally draining." However, Ayala has always been industrious. During her presentation on "Shark Tank," she shared about her challenging upbringing in homeless shelters. This fueled her determination to ensure she would always have a means to support herself, so that she never went hungry.

With the pandemic behind her, the entrepreneur started looking for ways to start afresh with her food truck business. In May 2024, Ayala announced that The Bumbling Bee had been turned into Solana Street Food – a food truck that serves vegan, vegetarian, and meat-based Puerto Rican food in and around Virginia Beach. Instead of burgers, milkshakes, and fries, they now whip up tacos, empanadas, nachos, and hot fajitas. By the looks of it, the new business seems to be almost as popular among locals as the previous one. As of October 2024, Solana Street Food already has more than 5,500 followers on Instagram and 4,700 on Facebook, as well as a 92% rating based on 65 reviews on the latter. Fans can only hope that the entrepreneur's newest food truck will eventually rank among those that started small, but made it big.