Where Is Ghia From Shark Tank Today?

Melanie Masarin was just an entrepreneur, standing in front of a group of investors on "Shark Tank" Season 14, asking for someone to take a chance on her line of zero-proof aperitifs. Her product, she told the sharks, was inspired by the summers she spent with her family on the Mediterranean. 

Picture an Italian bacchanal running late into the wee hours of the night. There's music and dancing and the drinks are flowing, from wine and amaro to decanters of puckeringly tart limoncello, the latter of which was abundant at Masarin's family's gatherings. The Lyons, France-born contestant told the panel she loved the late-night fun, but wasn't wild about the effects the alcohol had on her body. Enter: Ghia, which Rickie Ticklez of "Off The Rocks" calls "a social tonic inspired by Italian aperitivo culture." 

Masarin went into the pitch with a background in "finance, corporate strategy, and brand building," according to the Shark Tank Blog. Her product already had a cult following by the time she appeared on the show, but she wanted help reaching a wider audience. She was hoping one of the sharks would spot her $250,000 in exchange for 5% equity in her company. Here's how her alcohol-free product fared on and off the show. 

Melanie Masarin's pitch elicited a generally positive response from the judges in terms of taste. One investor likened it to Campari, an herbaceous Italian aperitif that stars in distinctly Italian cocktails like the Aperol spritz and the Negroni (Sbagliato... with prosecco in it). The resident Frenchman of "Shark Tank," Kevin O'Leary, who may have bonded with Masarin over her Lyonese upbringing, called it "tres bonne," which translates to "very good" in English.

In terms of profit, the judges oscillated between concern and praise. They didn't like that Masarin took a $1 million hit in 2021, but they were highly impressed to learn that, at the time of the episode, she was raising $6.5 million at a $35 million valuation, per a Shark Tank Blog recap. She told the judges that, in 2023, she hopes to double her then-projected 2022 sales of half a million. At one point, she seemed to have swayed Robert Herjavec, but he eventually dropped out when it appeared that O'Leary might bite. Sadly, O'Leary actually turned out to be more bark than bite. He offered her $250,000 for 10% equity, which she quickly turned down. 

So, did she make the right decision? 

Despite Melanie Masarin bowing out from Kevin O'Leary's offer, Ghia seems to be going strong. She launched the product in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, just as huge swaths of Americans were reevaluating their relationship with drinking in the midst of record-high deaths related to alcohol, per The New York Times. Heading into the new year, trend reports from several outlets (including Yelp and Imbibe) predicted that non-alcoholic drinks will continue to reign supreme in 2023. 

Ghia has proven itself a mainstay on big-name lists of zero-proof spirits, including Wirecutter (which calls it "bright and well balanced"), CNN Underscored, and The Daily Meal (hey, that's us). "Never before had I seen such a visually appealing and amaro-like alcohol-free spirit, and I immediately felt intrigued by both its aesthetics and its promise of a convincing simulacrum of a proper cocktail experience," writes Hilary Pollack for Vice. 

As of this writing, Ghia's Bestseller Bundle (complete with 12 cans of Le Spritz in three flavors, an apéritif bottle fit for 10 cocktails, and a pourer spout) goes for $89. Individual bottles of the original product go for $75.