Alabama company Y’all Sweet Tea gets $500,000 ‘Shark Tank’ deal: ‘Best I’ve ever had’

An Alabama sweet tea company is $500,000 richer, after a successful appearance on the ABC reality series “Shark Tank.”

If you thought Milo’s was the only game in town, say hello to Y’all Sweet Tea, a business founded in 2021 by Darien Craig and Brandon Echols of Hayden.

The two entrepreneurs, who’ve been friends since childhood, introduced their company to the celebrity investors (known as “sharks”) on the Nov. 15 episode of the ABC reality series.

Craig and Echols said they’ve created a tasty product and built a strong social media presence, growing their business over the past three years.

Their pitch to the sharks was so well received, it prompted three competing offers from the investors, allowing Craig and Echols to choose their favorite. But first, they had to introduce their company and sing its praises for the sharks.

“We’ve known each other since we were 6 years old. We graduated from high school together, dropped out of college together, and somehow, out of all these years, we’ve never been in a fight,” Craig and Echols said on the show. “Well, there’s one argument that we’ve never seemed to settle, and that argument is: Who makes the best sweet tea?”

The longtime friends said they combined recipes from two relatives — Echols’ mother and Craig’s grandmother — and came up with the essential recipe for Y’all Sweet Tea.

They also offered iced samples of the tea to five potential investors featured on the episode: Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban and Rashaun L. Williams.

Their pitch for Y’all Sweet Tea received a boost from a Southern cook and social media influencer who popped up to endorse the brand: Sue Garrett of Helena, also known as Mama Sue of Mama Sue’s Southern Kitchen.

“I’ve been drinking tea for 71 years, and honey, I can tell you, Y’all Sweet Tea is the best I’ve ever had,” Garrett told the sharks, prompting smiles and chuckles from the panel.

Y’all Sweet Tea comes in a colorful pouch containing 10 gallon-size tea bags that are brewed by the customer.

Despite the product name, there’s no sugar or artificial sweetener in the tea bags; users must sweeten the tea to their own tastes.

Along with the original blend, Y’all Sweet Tea comes in several flavors, including peach, watermelon, raspberry and mango.

The absence of sweetener in Y’all Sweet Tea didn’t seem to bother the sharks, who proclaimed their samples delicious and proceeded to ask questions about the company’s costs, sales figures and goals.

Craig and Echols said they own 100 percent of the company and have no outstanding loans. With an appearance on “Shark Tank,” they were seeking an investment to expand their business in a major way.

“We’re only three years in, so you know, the sales are, we’re happy about them,” Craig said. “But I’m real glad to say that today we’ve just passed $10.3 million since 2021.”

“Eighty-five percent of our sales comes directly to our website,” Echols said.

“We’re in about 600 grocery stores, mainly throughout the Southeast, but we want to go into big box stores. That’s our next big plan. We’ve even had some discussion with Walmart a few months back. They talked to us about doing a 500-store test.”

Craig and Echols asked the sharks for a $500,000 investment for a 5% stake in Y’all Sweet Tea, with a $10 million valuation for the company. In the end, they received three competing offers for that sum, with varying percentages for the investors.

Rashaun Williams gave Y’all Sweet Tea the first vote of confidence, offering the entrepreneurs $500,000 for a 10% stake in the company.

Williams, from Atlanta, is a venture capitalist and a limited partner in the Atlanta Falcons, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“I’ll let you figure out if you want to go to Walmart, if you want to stay direct to consumer or what balance of both,” Williams said.

“I think you guys are smart enough, charismatic enough. You don’t need me to tell you how to run this business, but I’ll give you money, I’ll give you access, I’ll give you influencers if you want — not that you need it. But I think you guys are a rocket ship. I think if you had the right money and the right resources, you can continue to grow.”

Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran passed on a deal, but Lori Greiner said she wanted to partner with Williams, splitting a $500,000 investment for a 15% stake in the company, with 7.5% each for Greiner and Williams.

“I have tons of products that have done extremely well in grocery,” Greiner said.

“This is so cute, so impressive. This is fabulous packaging, fabulous name. And if I were walking down the grocery aisle, I’d go to this one. And so I want to be in on it, and I think we can blow it up, like be the Name of Tea.”

Kevin O’Leary, known on “Shark Tank” as “Mr. Wonderful,” offered the same deal as a partner with Williams.

He wanted to split a $500,000 investment for a 15% stake in the company, with 7.5% each for O’Leary and Williams.

After some discussion and wrangling, Echols and Craig opted for the $500,000 offer from Williams and Greiner.

The two sharks appeared thrilled with the deal, jumping up to shake hands and hug the entrepreneurs from Hayden.

“Alabama in the building!” Williams said, noting that his family roots are in Bessemer. “We’re going to kill it.”

“Man, this is a dream come true, to get a deal with two sharks,” Echols said. “Rashaun is an awesome businessman, and Lori has so much experience in retail. It couldn’t have been a better deal.”