What Happened To Slice Of Sauce After Shark Tank?

Some of the most ridiculous food inventions on "Shark Tank" become the best products. However, some of the best products still don't make the cut. Of course, we're talking about Slice of Sauce — a slice of solidified condiment packaged like Kraft Singles — all the flavor you love, none of the mess.

Creator Emily Williams stumbled upon the idea while trying to replicate a family barbeque sauce recipe as a dry rub. She and her husband used all parts of the veggies to limit waste and ended up with something like fruit leather. Instead of throwing it out, Williams popped it on a sandwich and found, to her surprise, that she thought it was delicious.

Hoping to share her no-mess condiment with the world, Williams took her product to Kickstarter, where she raised more than $30,000 in 2018. However, at the time, the brand made each slice by hand, which was a time-consuming process. To help manufacturing along, Slice of Sauce appeared on "Shark Tank" in 2021 to seek an investment of $200,000.

From the start, the "Shark Tank" investors were interested in Emily Williams' Slice of Sauce idea. She presented her product as the perfect shelf-stable alternative to messy ketchup packets and a path to a future free of soggy burger buns.

Of course, the Sharks poked a few holes in the Slice of Sauce concept, with Kevin O'Leary pointing out that nothing is stopping other companies from also removing water from condiments and selling them as packaged slices. The Sharks further questioned the product's cost, at $5.99 for eight servings. On the other hand, a 38-ounce bottle of Heinz Ketchup contains 63 servings and costs more than a dollar less.

Williams countered that her product is made with premium ingredients and, as such, costs more to produce. She hoped to increase profits by decreasing manufacturing costs with a co-packer. Unfortunately, most of the Sharks were dissatisfied with the company being pre-revenue and dropped out. In the end, guest shark Alex Rodriguez took a chance on the company's estimation of $1.8 million in sales by the end of 2021 and offered Williams $200,000 in exchange for 15% equity.

Slice of Sauce had yet to make any actual sales before appearing on "Shark Tank." After the show, the company announced on Instagram that it was accepting pre-orders for its homemade condiment slices but couldn't provide a shipping date.

Slice of Sauce started shipping out orders by late April 2021, only to be out of inventory by June. Customers began complaining, with some still waiting on pre-orders. Others wanting to try the product were unable to order.

Unfortunately, between failing to close the "Shark Tank" deal with Alex Rodriguez and still making slices by hand, Slice of Sauce struggled to keep up with demand. By September 2021, just months later, the company had seemingly made its last post on social media with no explanation. It's anyone's guess, but it's likely that Slice of Sauce couldn't produce large enough quantities to drive down costs.

Needless to say, Slice of Sauce shuttered its business, presumably for good, less than a year after appearing on "Shark Tank." As of 2023, the Slice of Sauce website has long since been deactivated, with not a peep made on any social media platform in years.

Founder Emily Williams seems to have moved on as well. Her LinkedIn page lists her as having co-founded an unnamed business in late 2022 and doesn't mention Slice of Sauce anywhere. Slice of Sauce co-founder Cole Williams, Emily's husband at the time of the "Shark Tank" pitch, appears to have moved from Texas to Michigan, though it's unclear whether or not he has returned to his career in health and fitness.

Although many people are interested in the concept of condiment slices, no other companies have jumped in to take over Slice of Sauce's niche. Until someone does, it looks like we're back to dripping condiments on our shirts.