Whatever Happened To Anytongs After Shark Tank?
On "Shark Tank" Season 14, Episode 13, an entrepreneur named Tog Samphel pitches a kitchen device he designed called Anytongs. As its name suggests, the product serves as an alternative to traditional kitchen tongs. It functions by securing a spoon or fork in each of its two halves, allowing its user to swap different utensils in and out depending on their need.
Samphel revealed the genesis of this idea in an interview with his alma mater Montclair State University. "When my mom was entertaining, she would rig clothespins, tape, and plastic forks into makeshift tongs," he said. "It occurred to me that everyone could use an extra pair of kitchen tongs in a pinch. And after so many years of developing digital products, I wanted to create something more tangible."
Before taking the product on "Shark Tank," Samphel successfully funded the Anytongs on Kickstarter, more than tripling his $10,000 goal. He also sold the product through both Amazon and a dedicated website. Samphel enters the "Shark Tank" studio hoping to walk away with a $150,000 investment in exchange for 20% of his business.
What happened to Anytongs on Shark Tank?
In his "Shark Tank" pitch, Tog Samphel outlines one notable difficulty he faced while attempting to get his Anytongs business off the ground. After the product secured significant funding on Kickstarter in 2020, complications resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 held up the manufacturing of subsequent units. Between then and filming his episode, which aired in January 2023, his profits totaled just $7,000.
Furthermore, at the time of his "Shark Tank" appearance, Samphel offered a single Anytongs for $19.99 and a more popular two-pack for $24.99. Shark Kevin O'Leary expresses concern about this price point, given that he estimates the cost of a standard pair of tongs to be approximately $10. That said, Samphel explains that during his manufacturing holdup, he revised the Anytongs and cut what was initially a $2 production cost in half upon the completion of an updated design — though its reduced cost is contingent upon a larger manufacturing order.
O'Leary, Robert Herjavec, and Mark Cuban all pass on Anytongs. After outlining some reasons he's hesitant to invest, Daymond John ultimately decides to offer Samphel the $150,000 he desires, albeit for a 49% stake. Samphel attempts to counter but John won't budge, and in the end, Samphel accepts John's proposition.
Anytongs after Shark Tank
While "Shark Tank" investors occasionally back away from deals after initially agreeing to fund a company on camera, Daymond John went through with his proposed investment in Anytongs. An account on X, formerly known as Twitter, for John's agency, The Shark Group, shared a video in February 2023 that featured John showing off the product in what appears to be the immediate aftermath of Tog Samphel's pitch. "We have high expectations and anticipate that Any Tongs will soon be in every kitchen," reads the body of the tweet.
Samphel discussed what it was like to work on expanding his company with John's involvement in an interview with Montclair State University's newspaper The Montclarion. Before guesting on "Shark Tank," Samphel felt that closing a deal with any one of the Sharks would have counted as a win. He was surprised, therefore, that every Shark at least seemed interested in the product.
In the end, he was grateful to make a deal with John, who quickly became an asset to Anytongs' growth. "Since that pitch up until now, he's a busy guy, and just the time that he's already given to me and just jumping on several calls, he's been great and I'm just so ecstatic to just go through this process with his team," Samphel said.
Is Anytongs still in business?
Anytongs remains in business to this day. As was the case when Tog Samphel filmed his "Shark Tank" episode, the two outlets through which the product is available are Amazon and the official Anytongs website.
The biggest change to the current version of the product is its price point. While a single unit is no longer available through the company website, a two-pack retails for a sale price of $19.99 — previously the cost of one Anytongs. Also for sale are bundles of four, six, and eight devices. The Anytongs 8-pack is priced at $49.99, reducing the cost of each individual unit to just over $6.
However, while Samphel showed off an updated product design on "Shark Tank," he doesn't appear to have gone through with its implementation. The new version of the Anytongs he mocked up notably clasps onto its utensils through a mechanism that differs in appearance from the flagship unit. It also features a sizable green component. The version available through the Anytongs website, meanwhile, retains both the original product's color and clasping mechanism, suggesting that after Daymond John bought a major stake in the company, the updated design was deemed unnecessary.
What's next for Anytongs and its founder Tog Samphel?
Tog Samphel spoke briefly about what might come next for Anytongs in an interview the New Jersey-based NJ.com published just after his "Shark Tank" episode aired. He learned that customers began using the device for grilling and while camping, which were both cases he hadn't foreseen when starting his business. While expanding the Anytongs' utility might therefore serve as one path forward for the company, Samphel likewise expressed a desire to design other, similar tools. Any future products, he explained, would ideally make use of existing kitchen implements. In the same manner, the Anytongs extends the functionality of standard utensils.
Perhaps complicating the prospect of growing the Anytongs product line is the fact that Samphel started a new job as a product designer for Walmart Data Ventures in August 2023. "Stoked to share I'm starting my new role at Walmart Data Ventures. I'll be working on Luminate, a product that helps brands use powerful data to make smarter decisions for online retail," he wrote on his LinkedIn page. Anytongs, then, might no longer be Samphel's priority and may well retain its current business model moving forward.