Whatever Happened To Eat Your Flowers After Shark Tank?
A native of Ojai, California, Loria Stern always loved spending time in nature. It wasn't until 2013, however, that she found a way to combine her two interests: the great outdoors and food. While working as a pastry chef at a hotel, Stern began taking an edible and medicinal plants course at Santa Barbara City College. "I'd always been inspired by nature and the beauty of flowers," Stern told Saveur, "but it wasn't until I got that practical knowledge from my professor that I really thought, 'Okay, now this is safe for what I'm going to do.'" With that, the seeds of Eat Your Flowers were planted.
Eat Your Flowers creates bespoke cakes, cookies, pies, and chocolate bars that put beautiful edible botanicals on full display. While humans have been eating flowers for thousands of years all over the world, Eat Your Flowers offers a decidedly Los Angeles-centric spin. As of 2021, Stern was growing almost 75% of the company's flowers in her own home garden, and Eat Your Flowers leans into the hyper-local, farm-to-table sensibility championed by California chefs.
During a Season 14 episode of "Shark Tank," Stern pitched her blossoming company in hopes of bringing an investor into her garden.
Loria Stern rose to the occasion on Shark Tank
When Loria Stern arrives in the tank, she instantly charms the panel of sharks with her bubbly pitch, delicious products, and impressive work ethic. "I must tell you," she says to the sharks, "I never set out to start a company. I was just making food [and] posting it on Instagram." As she explains, the photos of her flower-adorned sweets went viral, and soon, Eat Your Flowers was being featured in publications like Vogue, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times.
That exposure did translate to business, as Stern reveals that she has achieved lifetime sales of roughly $2.2 million. The sharks are impressed with the sales figures, as well as with the fact that Stern has already managed to sell what is a premium product. A box of Eat Your Flowers retails for $50 and only costs $7.50 to make, a markup that makes Lori Greiner's jaw drop.
Stern is seeking $250,000 for a 12% stake in Eat Your Flowers. Kevin O'Leary is the first to bite, matching her investment ask but for a 25% share. Greiner, Mark Cuban, and Robert Herjavec all drop out, leaving only Stern's dream collaborator, Barbara Corcoran, left. After having a chat with Stern about exactly what she's looking for in a partner, Corcoran makes her own offer of $250,000 for 15%. Stern promptly approves the deal and leaves the tank happy as a flower.
Eat Your Flowers felt the Shark Tank effect
During her "Shark Tank" appearance, Loria Stern made it clear that she was gunning for a deal with Barbara Corcoran, even asking in the middle of her pitch, "Barbara, will you be my mentor?" After the pair brokered a deal, Corcoran wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, "Welcome to the family, Loria!"
After the episode aired, business boomed for Eat Your Flowers. "Let's just say that the 'Shark Tank' effect is real," Stern said on TikTok a day after her episode aired. "We have received so many orders, so many website hits, [and] my inbox is overflowing." For Stern, rewatching the episode was a joy in and of itself. "It was so fun to go back to that moment of celebrating with Barbara, and I'm just grateful," she added.
On "Shark Tank," Stern mentioned that she wanted to find a mentor to help her scale the company. Stern wore basically every hat at Eat Your Flowers, including running the company's social media, and she hoped that an investment would provide her with the funding to hire a much-needed operations manager. In May, the Eat Your Flowers Instagram account did an employee spotlight on its operations manager.
Eat Your Flowers has continued to blossom
Eat Your Flowers took off thanks to Loria Stern's viral posts, and the sweet treats still attract plenty of attention online. As of this writing, the Eat Your Flowers Instagram account has over 20,000 followers, and Stern's own account has an impressive 253,000 followers.
Eat Your Flowers offers more than the typical slate of sweets. The website sells decorative pre-pressed flowers, seed mix packets, a wooden press kit, and merch. The store's pantry section also offers "Flowerfetti" sprinkles, petal-flecked salt, granola, and botanical-infused sugar cubes meant to add a floral lift to cocktails and other refreshments. Moreover, the website advertises Stern's online cooking classes, which start at $75, while speciality cakes start at $500, and catering services at $4,000.
Despite the premium pricing (a dozen shortbread cookies sell for $52.50), Eat Your Flowers has still maintained a devoted following. The company's Etsy account is flush with five-star reviews. "I got these as a gift for my mother and she was blown away with the quality and the taste!" wrote one user. "She said they were almost too pretty to eat and then ate the whole batch in two days." Another added, "Absolutely stunning with clear instructions on how to preserve for a later date!"
Tastemakers have endorsed Eat Your Flowers as well. In November, the company earned the approval of Nancy Silverton, the James Beard Award-winning chef who is known for her acclaimed pizza and bread.
What's next for Eat Your Flowers?
During Loria Stern's appearance on "Shark Tank," Mark Cuban bowed out early, but he did dispense some valuable advice. "The company is you," he told Stern. "You're the brand. The products are incidental. When you deal with media, the story has to be about you and building yourself to be the Martha Stewart of flowers." Stern has seemingly taken that guidance to heart, frequently positioning herself as the face of Eat Your Flowers.
Stern continued to build her personal brand by releasing a cookbook in April 2023. Titled "Eat Your Flowers: A Cookbook," Stern's book explores the power of botanicals in the kitchen. "One of my most proud accomplishments this year is writing a cookbook, as it's been a dream of mine since I was little," Stern wrote on Instagram. "In this book I've combined my love of nature and cooking. Don't let the title lead you astray, this book is not just about edible flowers, but it's about my favorite recipes inspired by nature."
In addition to featuring Stern's signature sweets, her cookbook highlights the uses of botanicals in savory cooking as well. Some recipes include Floral Summer Rolls, Gardenscape Focaccia, and Botanical Steamed Tamales Filled with Hibiscus Jackfruit. The book currently holds a 4.9 star rating on Amazon.
In an interview with Aficionada, Stern was asked if she had plans to write a second cookbook. She responded, "I sure hope so! There also may be a TV show. Stay tuned."
It would appear that there are many good things in the future for Loria Stern and Eat Your Flowers.