Numilk: Here's What Happened After Appearing On Shark Tank

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When it comes to cow's milk alternatives, folks nowadays tend to have plenty of options at their disposal. Yet, those products never appealed to entrepreneur Ari Tolwin. As someone who mainly sustains himself off of a plant-based diet, he had tried various products on the market and was always left unimpressed. In an interview with The Detroit Jewish News, he said that plant-based milk are "filled with gums; they don't have a ton of nutrient value; and they have the same antiquated supply chain that produces dairy."

While working on expanding his company at the time, Happytree Maple Water, he began thinking about a service he loved at Whole Foods that allowed customers to grind their own peanuts for fresh, all-natural peanut butter they could take home. Curious if he could utilize the same concept to create dairy alternatives like almond milk, he went to work creating a machine that employed a miniature mill to grind almonds into milk in seconds.

After partnering with Joe Savino, Tolwin launched Numilk in 2018. The duo got a local Whole Foods to test out the large machine and almost instantly, customers were buying Numilk in droves. They sold 130 bottles on the first day, surpassing that on day two with 170 more bottles. Still, the machines were expensive to manufacture and getting grocery stores to give up that amount of space was difficult. They needed more funding to make that happen, and they saw an opportunity for that funding on ABC's "Shark Tank."

Tolwin didn't waste any time telling the sharks that he was swinging for the fences, seeking $1 million for a measly 5% stake in the business. He and Savino explained how the plant-based milk market was growing but that the products folks typically buy are over-processed and come with additives many don't want in their beverages. Savino unveiled the Numilk machine while the two entrepreneurs demonstrated its ease of use and reduced environmental impact.

The sharks thought the taste was on point, but that only counted for so much. The Numilk founders explained that they weren't making a profit when Kevin O'Leary pressed them for hard numbers, revealing they lost $2 million in 2018 when the product launched and relinquished another $3 million the next year as they built more machines. They expected to do better in 2020, but COVID-19 stalled those plans, and they were on track to lose another $2 million that year. However, they also unveiled a countertop model intended for coffee shops and homes, which had some sharks raising their eyebrows.

Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John jumped ship because they found the business confusing. O'Leary offered the $1 million as a loan for 5% equity. Lori Greiner also took herself out of the running, leaving Mark Cuban to make an offer that doubled the money Tolwin and Savino were seeking. One million would be for 7% equity, and another million, offered as a low-interest loan, would be for an additional 3% if it was used. The duo took Cuban's deal.

Numilk started getting space in new locations, but scaling the business was slow. At some point following their appearance on "Shark Tank," Tolwin and Savino, along with another founder who didn't appear on the show, Lennie Freidman, decided it was time to focus on the smaller countertop machines. This, of course, required more funding, but they were able to secure $222,353 from a Kickstarter campaign in 2023 to make it happen.

Instead of customers being required to source fresh nuts for use in the machines, the company also began making Numilk flavor pouches. Because they weren't filled with water, the business continued its mission to reduce its carbon impact via shipping the products, and it made it simple for customers to refill their machines with a few clicks on Amazon or the Numilk website. Numilk soon reached a deal with Hamilton Beach Brands to manufacture its coffeehouse and home-use machines, which Tolwin stated in a press release was exactly what the company needed to grow. "Their design capabilities, manufacturing relationships, selling and distribution expertise across all retail and commercial channels will enable us to rapidly scale," he said.

While the large machines for grocery stores don't seem to have taken off as Tolwin and Savino hoped, the smaller countertop devices have apparently been quite a success. Numilk boasts that it's offered in more than 200 restaurants and coffee shops, while its home machine business seems to be moving well, too. Folks have the option of buying a home unit directly from the company or a bundle deal that gives customers a variety of flavor pouches with their purchase, or they can get a Numilk home machine from Amazon.

Numilk has much more to offer than just almond and oat milk these days. Originally planning to sell 12 varieties of Numilk flavors as per its Kickstarter campaign, the business has trimmed that down slightly to 11 different Numilk flavor pouches that include flavors like Matcha Latte, Vanilla Pistachio, and Chocolate Oat. There are also a few flavors like Golden that combine ingredients like cashews, coconut, maple, and cinnamon, to entice customers who want something more unique. The sales of Numilk home machines and flavor pouches don't look to be slowing down, meaning there's likely more room for the company to grow.

While Numilk appears to have found success in selling personal plant-based milk machines to the masses, there is no word about any other big plans on the horizon. Now that the business has found its niche, it is likely focusing on continuing to market the product and come up with new and interesting flavors to offer customers. The multi-year deal with Hamilton Beach Brands should allow Numilk to continue its upward trajectory. Who knows? Perhaps someday Numilk may be bought out by a titan of the food and beverage industry for a sizeable sum like what happened with Bantam Bagels after its appearance on "Shark Tank."

It wouldn't have been shocking for Tolwin to throw in the towel, given that Numilk initially lost millions of dollars in the process of getting the business up and running. Yet, through hard work and determination — not to mention some smart business deals — he and his partners managed to take what started as classic napkin sketches and create a product that has been an unmitigated success. As Tolwin told The Detroit Jewish News, "I always wanted to do something in business," with his first entrepreneurial interests starting at just 12 years old. It seems that he has finally found his calling in Numilk and there is no indication he will be calling it quits anytime soon.