Bark’em’s To Go from Shark Tank

barkems to go shark tank

Blake St. Clair is a pet owner who likes to take his dog, Rummy, on travel vacations with him. He fussed with carrying a lot of different containers for food and water for his dog, and wanted to create an all-in-one solution to solve the hassle of traveling or camping with tons of different dog food containers.

Bark’em’s To Go was the perfect solution for Blake. He designed a disposable container that contains a single meal for dogs, along with a portion of vitamin-infused water. After the dog is done eating food, the owner can throw the whole container away, which reduces the need to clean up the containers.

What Do They Make?

Bark’em’s To Go are single-serving meal containers that contain meals for dogs along with some treats. They also come with vitamin-rich water and a bag that can be used for waste clean up.

What Makes Them Unique?

Bark’em’s To Go comes in different sizes for different dogs, e.g. large containers for big dogs and medium containers for smaller dogs, etc. They have disposable packaging that can be thrown away when the dog is finished eating its meal. This saves the time to wash different containers and save water resources, which can be limited when the dog owner is camping or traveling.

Are They Still an Active Company?

Bark’em’s To Go is out of business now as the domain name is no longer theirs and the Twitter account has been inactive since 2014.

How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?

Blake St. Clair came to the show seeking $100,000 for 51% stakes in his company. He brought his yellow labrador with him to the show. Blake claimed that he was the first one who came up with the idea of a full serving meal for dogs.

He began his pitch by saying that a lot of pet owners love to take their dogs with them as they travel, or go camping, but feeding the animals on the go is not an easy job. Why travel with lots of containers for your dog food, water, waste bags, and dry food treats, when Blake has the perfect solution for all of them in one packaging?

He introduced his product Bark’em’s To Go to the Sharks. It was a pre-packaged container for a single-serving meal for dogs, which has different sections in it holding different dog foods, dry treats, and a separate section for vitamin-enhanced water.

The Sharks looked confused and unconvinced by his pitch. Blake told them that his product has potential and wants it to be available on shelves of every supermarket in the USA. He showed the Sharks how his product worked as his yellow lab ate from the Bark’em’s To Go container.

The Sharks thought that the whole process looked very messy. Robert observed that the yellow lab is a big dog and such a dog would make a mess out of the little container. Blake replied that it is this reason why he has made the packaging in 3 different sizes, for large, medium, and small dogs.

Barbara asked him if the packaging the yellow lab was eating from was for large dogs. Blake said that the packaging was for a medium-sized dog but Rummy was a large dog.

As Robert and Barbara called Rummy over to pet him, Kevin asked Blake if there was even a market for the product. It would be much easier for dog owners to just carry a small bag with their lunch inside it. Blake said that the benefit of Bark’em’s To Go package is that the owner doesn’t have to carry extra packets of dog food and containers for water and waste bags. Kevin added that there was no market for the product since it brought no value and it was much easier for owners to just let their dogs eat out of a small bag.

Robert chimed in and said that it wasn’t such a bad idea and that the large dog food companies can use this idea to package and market their products. Blake hadn’t been able to make connections with them yet.

Daymond inquired if Blake’s product was patented, and Blake said that the idea was patented and he had also trademarked the name of the company. Barbara clarified that the patent was still pending.

Daymond further questioned the sales of the product. Blake revealed that the food packaged in Bark’em’s To Go needs to be licensed through a food company and that the design was still a prototype; he still hadn’t sold any units.

Kevin was out as he thought that the idea was worthless and didn’t have any market value.

Mark Cuban thought that the product was still too immature and early in the process. He was out as well.

Daymond was next to go out.

Barbara still maintained that such a problem of carrying dog food doesn’t even exist, therefore why would anyone buy Blake’s product. She was out.

Robert said he liked the idea, but it was still way too early to make an investment in it. He was the last Shark to go out.

Our Review of Bark’em’s To Go

The idea of disposable lunch boxes for dogs is a clever one since it saves the inconvenience of carrying different types of dog food containers which can make a mess in any bag they are stored in.

Pros of Bark’em’s To Go

  • The disposable container is convenient as the dog owner does not have to wash the food containers after every few meals.

Cons of Bark’em’s To Go

  • The dogs can make a mess in the little tray
  • The packaging is not stable; the food and water can splash out of it easily.

Who is Bark’em’s To Go For?

Owners of dogs who like to travel a lot must know the hassle that comes with taking a whole meal package of their dogs with them, along with their water and a waste bag to clean up the mess they are bound to make later on. Bark’em’s To Go is a compact solution that allows them to take different meals and treats for their dogs on the go.

Are There Any Alternatives?

A leak-proof and air-tight pet food container from any retail store can work very well for taking your dog’s food on the go.

Our Final Thoughts

Even though Blake was really passionate about his product, his prototype model didn’t impress the Sharks and that is why he left the Shark Tank with no deal.