ButcherBox is known for its rapid growth, generating over $600 million in revenue. The company hasn’t traditionally been on the M&A track, but today it announced it’s acquiring Truffle Shuffle, which you might remember from a 2021 episode of “Shark Tank” (or perhaps “Goonie“). The acquisition helps ButcherBox customers cook higher and potentially expands its appeal (and product line) to more customers.
Truffle Shuffle’s goal is to make our home cooks feel like professionals, which it accomplishes by offering easy-to-watch cooking shows. When I attempted it out during the pandemic, I used to be amazed at how the company managed to make even fairly advanced dishes approachable and fun: with attitude and plenty of little suggestions and tricks along the way, including cocktail-making breaks and dance parties where home cooks they show at what stage they are in the cooking process and how tasty the meals look while cooking.
The corporations didn’t need to reveal the terms of the deal, but a ButcherBox spokesman confirmed that it was a cash-only offer.
Bring Michelin-starred cuisine to your kitchen
As all the time, one of the most significant elements of starting a startup is founder-market fit, and the two founders – Jason McKinney and Tyler Vorce – have an amazing story in this field: they met at a Michelin-starred restaurant French laundry and I made a decision to start out a truffle business.
Truffle Shuffle chef Tucker Ricchio is the winner of Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” competition. Image credits: Jay Maidment / Next Level Chef
Truffle Shuffle was founded with the dual purpose of helping chefs and consumers source real truffles and developing their very own range of truffle-based products. However, the pandemic meant they suddenly found themselves with $20,000 value of perishable premium truffles on their hands and no restaurants open where they might buy them.
This is when smart founders up their game. In response to those extraordinary circumstances, the team decided to sell on to consumers and introduced unique live cooking opportunities. This revolutionary change saved the company and was the birth of a latest idea.
From there, the business evolved: the team launched a platform that offered guests the opportunity to decide on the dish they desired to learn to cook. Once they have made their selection, the company sends all of them the ingredients vital to organize a Michelin-quality meal in the comfort of their very own home. This solution not only helped the company manage excess inventory, but also brought a gourmet dining experience to the kitchens of food enthusiasts across the country – and ultimately caught the attention of ButcherBox.
“Jason and Tyler are incredibly brave entrepreneurs and incredibly talented chefs,” Mark Cuban said in a statement to TechCrunch. “It has been a pleasure to watch them grow their community of home cooks and see the impact they have made on so many households in such a short time. Their approach to teaching people how to cook will continue to inspire the Truffle Shuffle community and will be an invaluable tool for the ButcherBox community as well.”
It seems that “Shark Tank” wasn’t the team’s only encounter with the TV star: one other celebrity chef at the company, Tucker Ricchio won $250,000 on Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Next Level Chef’ last May, which in no way could have harmed Truffle Shuffle’s profile or public awareness.
Acquired by ButcherBox
ButcherBox has been growing rapidly for some time, and recently expanded its operations to incorporate a line of pet food called ButcherBox for pets.
The company says that the purchase of Truffle Shuffle is its first acquisition so far and appears to be a logical expansion of the company’s operations. “Just cook” – a website with recipes and suggestions on learn how to cook higher. For now, nevertheless, the acquired company will operate under its own brand while ButcherBox works on how best to permanently integrate it into its brand – but the company says it is excited to supply ButcherBox customers with access to this content immediately.
“In my opinion, Truffle Shuffle is more than just a recipe and video platform. The community the team created really set them apart,” said Mike Salguero, founder and CEO of ButcherBox, in an interview with TechCrunch. “They empower and recognize individuals who are learning to cook in their very own kitchens, while at the same time improving the skills of those that are further along their culinary journey, all while having fun and eating higher. As a brand, our goal is to assist people eat higher, and while our focus has been on helping them eat higher quality protein, now with the integration of Truffle Shuffle we will encourage and educate the way they prepare our proteins.
Meanwhile, ButcherBox continues its mission to make meat consumption healthier and more conscious. Meat will all the time be a morally complex area (especially from a climate perspective), but the company says it is doing what it might. This includes a registered B corporation that has invited animal welfare organizations to make sure its accountability.