Two natural brands slay the dragons
In February, BBC One’s Dragons’ Den saw food disruptor Flavour Bombs and sustainable skincare brand My Skin Feels enter the den, leaving with serious backing from the dragons.
First to take on the dragons was Dani Close, founder of My Skin Feels – a high-performance, vegan skincare brand formulated using rescued food by-products and fermentation technology to support the skin microbiome.
The brand, which has achieved 250% year-on-year growth and secured US retail partnerships including Credo Beauty and Whole Foods Market, impressed the dragons with both its sustainability credentials and Dani’s industry background, having previously worked her way up at Charlotte Tilbury.
Gary Neville moved early with a £50,000 offer for 20%, telling Dani: “Dani, what a brilliant pitch and I love your energy”.
Deborah Meaden followed with a matching offer, saying: “I know you know I would love everything about what you're doing … So, unsurprisingly, I'm going to make you an offer, the same offer that you’ve already received”.
Despite also receiving an offer from Peter Jones, Dani chose to partner with Deborah and Gary, accepting £50,000 for 20% of the business. “I would love to work with you two, the energy is just amazing,” she said.
In the days following the episode, Dani saw sales surge by over 800%, website traffic jump 1200%, and key products sell out within 48 hours, driven largely by first-time customers. This led Dani to decide not to go forward with the dragons’ investment offers.
Angel investors
She explains: “In short, I had five angel investors step forward after we filmed, not knowing I had just filmed the show … they offered a better percentage and also their long-term values aligned with mine. I did have a big concern leaving the den because I know we would have to raise again in the future (£50k doesn't get you much these days) and any serious investor would struggle to put money into a brand that had given away such a big percentage for such a small amount.”
Flavour Bombs bring some spice
Also stepping into the den, married duo Tina Faghihi-Hallam and Olly Hallam showcased Flavour Bombs, ready-to-use meal bases that reimagine home cooking by delivering restaurant-quality global dishes without waste.
The product immediately impressed the panel on taste, with Gary Neville declaring: “That tastes really good. That’s the most important thing, when creating a food product – does it actually taste good? And it does!”
Launched with just £300 and scaled via TikTok – generating hundreds of orders within days and 300,000 views – the brand has already hit six figures in revenue with no team and no external investment.
After multiple offers and tough questioning around scaling and marketing costs, the couple secured £50,000 from Peter Jones for 25% equity, negotiating on the condition that his share “does not get diluted if you guys go off and raise some money”.
Validating experience
Reflecting on the experience, Faghihi-Hallam says: “We had absolutely no idea how the dragons were going to react. So, when we got three offers, we were completely ecstatic. It was emotional, overwhelming and incredibly validating.”
With Great British Food Awards already secured and plans to expand into major UK retailers, Flavour Bombs has ambitions for national and international growth.
By Jane Wolfe, contributor