Honey Twigs Update | Shark Tank India Season 03
Honey Twigs founders pitched on Shark Tank India (Season 03) to raise ₹75 lakh investment in exchange for 3% equity. In their pitch, they tried to gain the attention of Sharks on their unique packaging method.
But, all sharks were impressed with the taste and flavor of Honey Twigs. Peyush suggested they should highlight the flavor because it’s taste is really good.
After liking the taste, will any shark invest in the honey business, and what happens after the Shark Tank? Find out in the Honey Twigs Shark Tank update.
If you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to read the whole story, here’s a brief overview of what happened to Honey Twigs after Shark Tank.
Honey Twigs founders Jigar, Paras, and Prafull pitched in Shark Tank for ₹75 lakh investment in return for 3% equity of the company. Because of the good product, innovative packaging, and strong balance sheet, Peyush, Anupam, and Ritesh matched the ask and invested ₹75 for 3% equity in the company.
| Company Name | Honey Twigs |
|---|---|
| Founders | Jigar Mehta, Paras Fatnani, Prafull Dwivedi |
| Founded | 2021 |
| Product | Honey |
| Ask | ₹75 lakh for 3% equity |
| Deal | ₹75 lakh for 3% equity |
| Sharks | Ritesh Agrawal, Peyush Bansal, Anupam Mittal |
About Honey Twigs
Jigar Mehta, Paras Fatnani, and Prafull Dwivedi are the founders of Honey Twigs. The company offers a plethora of honey-based products, which they claim are made up of 100% pure honey.
Their honey products are mess-free, on the go, and can be consumed anytime-anywhere. They have two natural variants, which are Himalayan multi-flora and natural litchi honey.
They also have an inventory of 5 infused variants, which are cinnamon, vanilla, lemon, turmeric, and ginger-infused honey.
The founders of HoneyTwigs claim that their products are regularly examined in labs for quality. And, also they won’t use any plastic in their products.
Today, HoneyTwigs products are available in 9 countries. They are available on Honey Twigs’ official websites, online marketplaces, and even some offline retail stores. The brand also has made some direct partnerships with airlines and hotels.
Honey is a widely used product throughout the world, and India is the sixth largest producer of Honey. This inspired the founders of Honey Twigs to innovate and change the way the world uses honey.
For this, they need investment, which is the reason why they came on Shark Tank India and made a pitch for ₹75 lakh for 3% equity in the business.
Was it too risky an investment, or will the Sharks fight for this deal? Here’s what happened next.
Honey Twigs Shark Tank India Pitch
Initially, the Sharks were very concerned about the uniqueness of HoneyTwigs as there were already many big-established brands that had similar characteristics.
However, upon testing the products personally, they really liked the taste and packaging of Honey Twigs. This cleared all the negative pre-conceived notions that they may have built initially.
Aman: Apart from packaging, even the taste is a big differentiator. I really liked it. Why didn’t you guys mention taste till now?
These comments coming from Aman (who doesn’t even like honey) are huge encouraging signs about the authenticity and quality of HoneyTwigs.
However, Aman wasn’t happy with the brand’s sole focus on packaging and leaving off the taste factor when they could actually gloat about it. Ritesh agreed with this.
Ritesh: You guys are overselling packaging and underselling taste. Your brand’s strength is your taste and all the recipes that you have innovated. There is a huge business opportunity in this. Packaging is just an outcome.
Aman then asked the founders about the views of the actual honey-eating audience on HoneyTwigs’s products.
Founder: Our variants are most popular among kids. Initially, we used to arrange stalls where children who didn’t even like honey used to buy 2-3 packets at once. We can convert even non-honey-eating audiences to honey-eating with our variants.
Vineeta: Okay, but about your claim of the products being natural? Is there any differentiation in your sourcing?
Founder: We outsource it from Himachal and Uttarakhand. We have done a strategic partnership with the beekeepers which provide us directly.
Vineeta then asks about the global honey market’s condition, especially after Covid.
Founder: The honey market is expanding right now as everyone wants a healthy sweetener. There is even demand for honey just for Religious purposes in places like the Middle East, where we have a huge market share.
The founders explained that the honey market is expanding rapidly at the rate of 11% CAGR in India every year.
Peyush then inquired about the price differences between HoneyTwigs and other big players in the market.
Founder: Normally, a 250g package is sold for ₹100 to ₹110, and we sell a 240g pack for ₹200. Meanwhile, the premium brands sell the same amount at ₹300 to ₹350.
Now, the discussion moved on to the financial health of HoneyTwigs. Peyush asked about the sales and revenues.
Founder: In FY21, our sales were at ₹1.3 crores. For FY22, it was ₹2.6 cores, and in FY23, we made sales worth ₹4 crores. Our monthly sales are at about ₹20 to ₹25 lakhs only in India, which accounts for 65% of our overall sales.
The founders then went into more detail and revealed that Honey Twigs 60% of business in India is HoReCa meanwhile, the remaining 40% comes from retail.
They also claimed that they are going to earn around ₹6 crores in FY24 without funding and ₹9 crores if they manage to get funding from Sharks.
Founder: This year, we are going to be at 3% net profitable. We have also raised two rounds of funding till now.
Aman really liked the fact that HoneyTwigs has managed to remain profitable till now.
Aman: I had never thought that I would invest in the honey business one day. But I really like you guys as founders and would like to work with you.
He then made the first offer to the founders of ₹45 lakhs at 3% equity and ₹30 lakhs debt at 10% for 2 years.
Vineeta was the next to jump on the offer train. She really liked the innovative minds of the founders and how they have made the products so presentable and aesthetic.
She gave an offer of ₹75 lakhs for 4% at 18 crore valuation, which looks like a very lucrative offer.
Anupam: Vineeta has made a very lucrative pitch. But, now I have made a friend who has all the necessary resources to help your brand.
Anupam was interested in doing a collaboration with Ritesh. As, they can use his Hotel Chains to test out Samples and scale the product at a massive rate.
He and Ritesh collaborated and pitched the original ask of the founders, which was 75 Lakhs at 3%.
Ritesh: Today, We have about 1 Lakh people staying in our Hotels just in India. So, we can introduce your product with our in-room services.
Peyush: Even I want to join Ritesh and Anupam in this offer.
Ritesh and Anupam agreed, and now all three sharks together gave the offer of ₹75 lakhs at 3%.
Aman and Vineeta quickly jumped in and gave an offer of ₹75 lakhs at 4%.
Aman: There are other hotel chains than OYO. I can help you by introducing you to not only OYO but others as well.
Vineeta added to this that Aman is the King when it comes to online marketing, and I have expertise in Offline, so together, we can offer Honey Twigs a great holistic hand.
Now, it’s tough for the founders to pick one as both offers are extremely bankable.
Peyush: I caution you that when you over-negotiate in Shark Tank India, then even the most luxurious deals can go anywhere.
The founders did a lot and finally came up with two probable offers that they would accept.
Founder: We want to suggest two offers. First, is that we want all 5 Sharks with us at ₹1 crore for 5 Sharks. If you disagree, then we will go with Ritesh, Anupam, and Peyush.
And, obviously, all 5 Sharks will not come together, so the deal was the founders went with Ritesh, Anupam, and Peyush’s offer of 75 Lakhs at 3%.
Aman and Vineeta missed the deal. Ritesh, Anupam, and Peyush now have equity in Honey Twigs.
Aman: I hate Honey. I thought that I would start eating honey, but I will stop it again.
Final Words
Honey Twigs clearly got a winning deal on Shark Tank India Season 3. The fact they were profitable made it easy for them to get offers. Finally, they settled for what they actually wanted. It was a win-win for both the Investors and the Founders.
If Honey Twigs manages to continue to be profitable then they can now start to scale their business through the roof with the new heavy investment from the Sharks.
