Walter Craft Caesar Mix

Zack Silverman, Aaron Harowitz and Josh Linde, from Vancouver, BC and Toronto, ON, asked for $275,000 for 10 percent of Walter, an all-natural craft Caesar mix made with real clam juice and no artificial ingredients, sold in Canada with a shelf life of one year. Since selling their first bottle about 18 months earlier, sales reached just over $690,000, with the product listed in roughly 400 restaurants, bars, hotels and clubs including Milestones, Fairmont Hotels, and Oliver & Bonacini restaurants, and available at Sobeys, Calgary Co-op, with Loblaws and Metro launches upcoming; the founders had raised $350,000 from outside investors at a $2.75 million valuation and invested $100,000 of their own, with total equity invested of $445,000, and were projecting about $1 million in sales this year and $2.5 million the year after, becoming profitable partway through.

Michael Wekerle offered $275,000 for 25 percent, which was declined. Manjit Minhas offered $275,000 for 20 percent, citing contacts with Trader Joe's, Walgreens and Wal-Mart and her own production company. Joe Mimran and Michele Romanow went out, both saying they could not beat or improve on Manjit's offer. Jim Treliving went out, citing uncertainty about the size of an existing contract with a competing mix brand. After negotiation, Manjit lowered her ask to 16 percent for $275,000, which the founders accepted.

Walter Craft Caesar Mix is still operating and sells through its website.