What Happened To Peanut Butter Pump After Shark Tank?

Anyone with peanut butter at home knows the struggle of a nearly empty jar. Scraping the inside with a knife, getting peanut butter all over your hand, ultimately for a single dollop of creamy goodness. Frustrating, right?

This exact peanut butter dilemma prompted entrepreneur Andy Scherer to create the Peanut Butter Pump in 2017. As a father to three boys, Scherer knew there had to be a better way to get peanut butter from the jar and onto a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. His product takes the pumping action of a soap dispenser and reimagines it to scrape every last bit of peanut butter from the jar.

Scherer, who also goes by The Nutty Inventor, shared the Peanut Butter Pump on IndieGoGo in 2019, successfully raising just over $166,000, but he needed a little more help in getting his product off the ground. He took his idea to "Shark Tank," asking investors for an additional $200k in exchange for 15% equity.

Andy Scherer brought the Peanut Butter Pump to the tank in 2019, hoping to scrounge up more backers for his project. As you can imagine, the "Shark Tank" investors were intrigued by the idea of a pump that's easy to attach to any jar of peanut butter, rendering the whole scraping process unnecessary.

That said, the sharks were a little unsure of the pump's size, particularly with regard to the debate about putting peanut butter in the fridge. Their interest took another nosedive when Scherer explained that he had only a prototype and preorders at that point in time -– no physical products or sales.

At $27 per pump, the sharks were understandably concerned that potential customers would stick with the traditional method of scraping the inside of the peanut butter jar with a knife. Scherer ultimately left the tank without a single offer, but the Peanut Butter Pump's story was far from over.

In his exit interview with "Shark Tank," entrepreneur Andy Scherer insisted that the Peanut Butter Pump would find success, with plenty of others interested in the product even if the sharks weren't.

After the show aired in November 2019, Scherer wrote in an IndieGoGo update that he would make the Peanut Butter Pump a reality, "sharks or no sharks." Unfortunately, he continued to have problems with tooling and suppliers, to the point that he had to switch factory partners. Things continued to go downhill, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing production to a standstill.

Over the next several months, Scherer continued to update backers on the situation where one production problem after another pushed back the shipping date. Though the pump had been manufactured, it was encountering issues with its pistons, its springs, and its airlock seal, and had yet to be produced en masse as of April 2022.

While the sharks may have been right to hold off on investing in Andy Scherer's Peanut Butter Pump, the project is still moving. Scherer announced that he took on a partner in early 2023, writing on IndieGoGo that they were "akin to a shark from 'Shark Tank,' but without a TV show or a desire for the spotlight." The unnamed partner seems to have helped Scherer wrangle his factory issues, even suggesting a partnership with peanut butter brands to further grease the wheels on production.

As of September 2023, Scherer claimed that the Peanut Butter Pump would be shipping in December. Due to the cost of production and changes to the prototype, he increased the price from $27 per pump to $38 for a single pump or $68 for two. Unfortunately, this price hike could very well dissuade customers from buying, as the sharks suggested during Scherer's pitch. Only time will tell.

The Peanut Butter Pump may not be out on the market yet, but that doesn't mean entrepreneur Andy Scherer isn't already working on his next big idea. As he wraps up the prototyping phase of production, Scherer says he's working on a peanut butter-themed cookbook to accompany his product. On a similar track, Scherer has launched the NutterNado, a tool for stirring peanut butter. Scherer has also been working on unrelated projects, such as a honey dispenser, an efficient way to pour ketchup from a glass bottle, and a shaftless caulking gun. Needless to say, he seems determined to get some sort of product out into the world, no matter the cost.

For now, the unfortunate reality is that the Peanut Butter Pump fans Scherer found in 2019 are shrinking in numbers each day with fans unsure why Scherer continues to make changes to the prototype when backers and fans haven't even had a chance to try the original product. Maybe minds will change if and when we finally see the product on the market.