Wondry, a Black-owned wine company founded by Whitney and Chaz Gates, appeared on the hit show Shark Tank in November 2022 and received a $225,000 investment from billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Since their appearance, the couple has quadrupled their sales, bringing in $1.1 million over the last 11 months, Yahoo Finance reported.
The Dallas, TX-based company offers a selection of 100% natural wines and sangrias which feature “organic berry, citrus, and exotic fruit extracts” for a luxury sipping experience and can now be found in over 400 stores nationwide. When the Gates’ appeared on Shark Tank, their brand had notched about $60,000 in profit, $250,000 in lifetime sales, and was available in only 50 stores; however, Cuban saw their potential in a landscape where so very few Black entrepreneurs had found success.
“When you’re a Black winemaker, you’re a rarity,” he said. “And as a rarity, their community looks up to them. And you compound that with them being successful and growing so quickly, they’re going to be encouraging entrepreneurs across the country.”
The Gates attributed a large part of their recent successes to Cuban’s introduction of their brand to Southern Glazer – a distribution company
that aided their placement in restaurants, retailers, and airlines – and to their new 10,000 square-foot facility, which greatly expanded the brand’s production, CNBC reports.“Before ‘Shark Tank,’ we were just a local Texas business,” said Whitney. “But after, we became a nationally recognized brand overnight.”
The couple-turned-CEOs returned to Shark Tank on a Nov. 3 episode to provide a follow-up to both Cuban and the other “sharks” on the growth of their business. The pair also used the moment to reveal the brand’s newest blend
, “Creamy Chocolate Martini,” just in time for the holiday season.RELATED STORY: ‘Shark Tank’s’ Daymond John Helps Out The Little Fish Awards $750k In Grants