Dragons’ Den: Brownie entrepreneurs win investment
As part of the deal, business partners Morag Ekanger and Paz Sarmah agreed to give investor Touker Suleyman a 30% stake in their bakery business Bad Brownie.
The company makes gourmet brownies at its production unit in south east London and sells thousands of them every week at food markets around the capital.
Although the brownies won universal praise, Suleyman was the only Dragon who was willing to invest in the creation of a luxury store in central London.
‘We don’t hold back’
Chocolate obsession
“We both love chocolate. We are obsessed by it. We basically force feed each other constantly.”
- Paz Sarmah, co-founder, Bad Brownie
Asked why the brownies tasted so good during the programme, Ekanger said: “We don’t hold back on anything, anything at all.
“So they are absolutely packed full of really good dark chocolate, loads of butter and loads of any ingredient that makes the flavour stand out.”
Suleyman said he could see the proposed store making a name for itself as the go-to place for the “best brownies in London”.
But the other Dragons warned against opening a store. Sarah Willingham said that it would be “impossible” to make money based on their expected turnover.
‘Wrong route to go down’
Investor Deborah Meaden said: “I do think that retail is the wrong route to go down. They are lovely brownies but as an investment I don’t get it.”
Another Dragon Peter Jones described opening a shop as the “wrong thing” to do, but he said the company could continue to sell at markets and rent space at delicatessens.
Ekanger and Sarmah met while working at a branding agency in London, discovered their shared passion for chocolate and set up the company in 2013.
At the start of the show, Sarmah said: “We both love chocolate. We are obsessed by it. We basically force feed each other constantly.”
The company described the brownies as ‘deliciously bad’ and ‘dangerously good’.
loving this image of our brownies on @BBCDragonsDen courtesy of Eddie Ryall on our facebook page! pic.twitter.com/7g6g12uq2P
— Bad Brownie (@BadBrownieCo) February 1, 2016Not that I'm impulsive but I'm watching @BBCDragonsDen and I've ordered a Chef's Selection Box from @BadBrownieCopic.twitter.com/9HeePBaAkH
— James Torkington (@JamesTorkington) January 31, 2016
