TWO women who were rejected on Dragons’ Den for their “cheap”Marmalade “wouldn’t succeed”Their business is growing and their products have been sold around the globe.
Nikki Frith and Lindsey Oldroyd unveiled their Granny Marmalade to the investors on the show in 2014, but it didn’t prove popular.
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Their company had begun after the women started selling their grandmother’s recipe at local farmers’ markets.
They were able get a stockist for the product and it was sold at 25 of the 29 Stockholm stores.
They were selling six jars per week at the time, but they wanted to expand their product range to include jams, curds, and aprons.
The entrepreneurs asked the Dragons for £50,000 for a 20 per cent stake in their business.
However, their marmalade wasn’t a huge hit with the Dragons, as Kelly Hoppen said they needed to change their branding.
She stated: “To me it just looks cheap, a cheap chutney. Good luck but I’m out.”
Piers Linney also didn’t like the company using a modern logo with their traditional item.
He said: “You tried to differentiate but I’m not sure that worked. It’s not something I can actually invest into.”
Deborah Meaden agreed with Piers, and Duncan Bannatyne said he didn’t even think the marmalade tasted show-stopping.
Their question in Den was not answered, but the two women weren’t defeated and now their business is flourishing.
They’ve rebranded as Granny Cool, and you can taste their jams, marmalades and curds in Boots, Dean and Deluca.
They can be found in Selfridges on Oxford Street in London and in New York. Plans are to expand to Dubai.
It’s not the first failed Dragons’ Den product to boom.
Natalie Ellis’s inventive no-spill Road Refresher Dog Bowl also thrived, despite a rejection.
When Natalie realised the huge untapped US market for this, she asked the Dragon’s for £120,000 to export her business to the states.
James Caan’s response? “America is the graveyard of British business.”
In 2010, Road Refresher made its first £1m profit and even Obama has one for little Bo.
Rachel Lowe, who rejected her Dragons Den pitch, a game that was inspired from taxi drivers, went ahead and made millions of it all by herself.
Back in 2004 she asked for a £75,000 investment for her game The Destination, which sees players ride around streets and try to collect the most fares.
Despite being turned down, Rachel’s creation went on to outsell Monopoly in its first year, after she secured a deal with toy retailer Hamleys, and now she has a net worth of £96million.
The greatest missed opportunity in Dragons Den history didn’t even make it on air.
James Watt, Martin Dickie, and BrewDog’s craft brewing company, BrewDog applied for the 2008 program.
The group of friends was invited to participate in a screen test, and they pitched their idea to the producers.
The company’s bosses decided it wasn’t worth investing in, so the two never got to pitch directly towards the dragons.
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Here are Dragons’ Den’s biggest success stories after rejection – from £1.8BILLION booze empire to board game outselling Monopoly.
And Dragons’ Den reject behind ‘world’s loudest bicycle horn’ rakes in £3m six years after show debut.