Here's What Happened To Chef In Black After Shark Tank

"Shark Tank" has attracted countless promising entrepreneurs over the years. One such ambitious businesswoman is Dorene Humason, who worked in the food industry as a sales professional for more than two decades but realized she was interested in building something of her own, per the Gazette Review. She eventually created a line of gluten-free salad dressings that were also suitable for creating delicious dips.

Once she was satisfied with the product she'd created, Humason pitched her idea on "Shark Tank" and asked for a "$50k investment for a 10% stake in her company, Chef in Black," the Gazette Review explains. Her daughter also appeared on the TV show and offered samples of the product to the judges, who were impressed with its taste but had logistical questions for the entrepreneur. How would the salad dressing achieve mainstream status across the country, and how did she plan on succeeding in a highly competitive market?

Per the Gazette Review, the "Shark Tank" judges had lots of questions for Dorene Humason and even wondered what her product was — seasoning, a salad dressing or something else? They also tried to understand how the product had performed in the market until that point. Per Shark Tank Tales, the entrepreneur said that the dressing was launched across 450 stores in its first year, and Chef in Black made a decent profit (around $78,000). Unfortunately, the company was forced to deal with a packaging problem in the second year, and its profits went down to $41,000.

When Humason appeared on "Shark Tank" in 2010, the salad dressing was available in 1,300 stores. While the judges were impressed with the product, many of them didn't want to invest. Still, things worked out with one of the sharks, Barbara Corcoran, who struck a deal with Humason ($50,000 for 35% equity). Unfortunately, the deal didn't work out; Corcoran and Humason reportedly had differences they couldn't resolve. While the former stated that "the focus should not be on salad dressing bottles," the latter apparently felt otherwise. The salad dressing was sold in 2,000 stores, as well as through Amazon.

Sadly, the dressing didn't manage to hold its own. It's not currently available online, and the Chef in Black website is inactive.