Liz Lovely Cookies brought a line of gluten-free cookies to Shark Tank. The main selling point of these cookies was that the ingredients were all-natural and they didn’t use any preservatives.
Before the Holts came to Shark Tank, the brand was popular on the East Coast and sold in several retail shops like Whole Foods, Shaws and other supermarkets. However, most customers preferred the regular cookies offered by the company to the gluten-free ones.
Are They Still an Active Company?
No, they are no longer active and are currently out of business.
How Did the Shark Tank Pitch Go?
Liz and Dan Holtz came to Shark Tank seeking an investment of $200,000 for a 10% stake in the company. They started their pitch by handing out samples of their cookies to the Sharks. They shared that they had managed to make almost $1 million in sales and that the company came about through a recipe of Liz Holtz’s that was popular among friends and family. They added that the success of their cookie business had led to getting a contract with United National Foods which meant that they had nationwide distribution.
The Sharks all tried the two types of cookies- cowboy and cowgirl.
Unfortunately, the Sharks didn’t like the cookies. Mr. Wonderful disliked it instantly, which upset Liz Holt. He was followed by Barbara, Daymond and Robert Herjavec. Mark Cuban was the only Shark who seemed interested in the concept of gluten-free cookies. However, he wasn’t so easily convinced to invest, mainly because he didn’t feel like the shares were enough for the original ask.
Cuban gave them 24 seconds to change the offer on the original ask, the Holtz’s counter-offer was $200,000 for a 20% stake in the company but this disappointed Cuban. He stepped out after hearing it, later sharing with the other Sharks that he had expected to hear an offer for at least 33%.
They left Shark Tank without a deal. After Shark Tank, Liz and Dan Holtz tried meeting various angel investors but failed to secure an investment. They even tried setting up a Kickstarter campaign but it didn’t work out either. However, the product itself remained especially popular during holiday season and even managed to get a retail deal with Surfway for further distribution in their outlets.
However, once the couple divorced, the business fell apart and Liz had trouble retaining the quality of the cookies with a new bakery contract. Eventually, Liz Holtz declared bankruptcy and Liz Lovely Cookies came to an end.
Our Review of Liz Lovely Cookies
We decided to try Liz Lovely Cookies for ourselves to see how it would fare.
The good news is that the cookies are huge, meaning that the supersized portions can easily be shared among family and make for good holiday gifts. It’s certified vegan and has low fat and sodium, making it a relatively healthy snack. Some stores also sell them in gift baskets, filled with ribbon and recyclable shredded paper which makes it even easier to give them away as a holiday gift for relatives who are allergic to gluten.
The bad news is that they’re expensive for a pack of 12, which still isn’t all that unusual for flavored cookies. The packaging isn’t appealing, with individual cookies sold in plastic wrappers. The boxes also have oddly indulgent prose that might sound odd to the target audience of customers who are seeking a healthy option for cookies.
Pros of Liz Lovely Cookies
- Supersized portions
- Low-sodium, low-fat and gluten-free
- Not overly sweet
- Organic ingredients
- Come with gift baskets
Cons of Liz Lovely Cookies
- Expensive
- Unattractive packaging
- Poor design choice on packaging
- Not enough variety in vegan line
Who Is Liz Lovely Cookies for?
Liz Lovely Cookies was intended to cater to people who want a gluten-free diet or are allergic to gluten but still like cookies a lot. It offered a good all-natural option for this customer base. It’s also a good option for people who have a vegan diet and prefer to avoid gluten.
Are There Any Alternatives?
Gluten-free cookies are nothing new, there are many brands available on the market for people who are allergic to gluten.
Tate’s Bake Shop Gluten-Free Cookies is one good gluten-free alternative to Liz Lovely Cookies. However, the difference is that it does include artificial ingredients unlike Liz Lovely Cookies, which is all-natural. Tate’s Bake Shop Cookies include artificial ingredients like xanthan gum and soy lecithin while the other ingredients such as baking soda, rice flour, butter, cane sugar, and others are natural.
Tate’s Bake Shop Cookies have good reviews on Amazon, with many people praising their taste, freshness, and packaging. They come in a wide variety of flavors like White Chocolate Macadamia, Lemon, Coconut Crisp, and Chocolate Chip, which gives customers the option of choosing whichever flavor they prefer. Their main selling point is that they’re made of rice flour, which makes them uniquely soft and their packaging keeps the cookies fresh.
Our Final Thoughts
Liz Lovely Cookies was based on a good concept of providing gluten-free milk cookies for people who are allergic to gluten and want all-natural ingredients. However, the Holts could’ve improved the taste of their product, which is extremely important in the food market. This could’ve been carried out by taking external feedback and incorporating it into production.
Other companies who offer gluten-free cookies also offer a variety of flavors which pulls in more customers who want to try interesting tastes like chocolate chip or vanilla cookies.
