'Shark Tank': Nashville entrepreneur brings Southern charm to food-truck business

A Nashville native brought a little Southern charm into the "Shark Tank" Friday with her Fried Green Tomatoes food-truck business.

Asking for $200,000 for 15% of her company, Holly Cooper runs the food truck herself at seasonal events, where she makes an average of $600 to $800 an hour, she said, with long lines of hungry customers. The food truck sells signature bacon lettuce and fried green tomato sandwiches, fish sandwiches, fried tomatoes and fried pickles.

“This business is ripe with opportunities. Who would like to spread a little bit of Nashville Southern hospitality all over the country?” Cooper asked.

Cooper’s food left the sharks drooling and smacking their lips, as Mark Cuban watched the calories add up: “This is the best part of the job, and the worst part of the job,” he said.

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Kevin O’Leary loved the food, but he wanted to know what separated her business from the many other food trucks. Cooper also sells her fry batter, which costs $1.28 to make but sells for $9.99, in 600 stores nationwide. In 2018, Cooper made $268,000 from her food truck and retail business.

Cooper worked 18 years in the restaurant industry, and in commercial sales, hawking everything from fuel to plumbing to electrical supplies, but she was fired from her job after being the no.1 sales representative for her company.

“That’s why I started my business, so I could be in control of my destiny,” she said.

“Not to be negative, but I have to speak the truth: I am Mr. Wonderful,” O’Leary said. He felt that her $1.3 million valuation didn’t make sense, given her limited sales. “To pay $1.3 million for this business is very difficult. If you already had a series of franchisees making money, that makes it more believable that you could pour gasoline on the fire and make it bigger. But you don’t have that yet.”

Likewise, Cuban felt the business was too young for him to invest. Lori Greiner thought Cooper had done an excellent job building the company, but felt the product wasn’t a fit: “What you’ve done is quite amazing, and I’m sure you’re having a lot more fun working for yourself. I love what I ate, but I’m that person that goes for the healthy, the light, the low-fat, so the product’s not right for me.”

Barbara Corcoran, who had great success with an earlier food-truck investment, Cousins Maine Lobster, realized Cooper could make $6,400 a day and $3 million a year if her truck stayed open six or seven days a week.

“All of a sudden Barbara can do math,” O’Leary chimed.

“Well, this kind of math I can do because I know it inside and out,” Corcoran said. “I’m your dream partner, but I’m going to have to be very well paid because I can do so much for you, and I can make you rich in two years.”

Corcoran would give her the $200,000 for 30% of the business. Before Cooper could answer, Daymond John chimed in with an offer of his own, “now that I saw Barbara all over this like a truffle pig on a truffle.” He offered $200,000 for 25% of the company.

Cooper attempted to negotiate Corcoran down to 25%, but she wouldn’t budge. The Nashville native had to choose between Corcoran and John’s 5% “Daymond discount.” Cooper decided to go with Corcoran.

“It was worth giving up a little more equity to get Barbara, because I knew she had the experience to do what we needed, and she was the shark I was after,” Cooper said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Shark Tank': Investors salivate over Fried Green Tomatoes food trucks