Where Is The Good Promise From Shark Tank Today?

For former entrepreneur Karen Posada, 2016 is not a year to be remembered fondly. While it may have started with a promise of success and fame, that promise was never delivered. Posada's 2016 stint on the "Shark Tank" seemed to signal the beginning of the end for her brand; by November of the same year, its retail website had closed for sales.

Karen Posada is best known for her Season 7 "Shark Tank" appearance with her brand, The Good Promise, which made pasta sauce and smoothies. However, this wasn't her first time behind "Shark Tank" lines. She had already auditioned two years prior when her original product line of vegetable-filled, kid-friendly pasta sauces. However, she didn't make it on the show that year. Once her second product line of ready-to-drink smoothies was taste-tested and ready for distribution in 2016, she returned to the hot seat to prove herself. 

Marketed as a healthier version of commercial smoothies, The Good Promise smoothies were packaged in six-ounce, travel-friendly pouches. They primarily targeted health-conscious consumers and carried the tagline, "Juice without the junk that won't break the bank." So, what happened to this seemingly sublime food concept?

Karen Posada's first attempts at retail food sales met with modest success — but only after some frustrating failures. Her pasta sauce line was her first foray into commercial sales. "Whole Foods absolutely loathed the idea," she said to Business Leadership Series. But she didn't give up. She eventually pitched her product successfully to Walmart, where it accrued moderate sales and a 23% profit margin.

While the thought of a portable, healthy snack is alluring, it seems there's good reason Good Promise had minimal competition with ready-to-drink smoothies. Most products with similar nutritional features either require refrigeration or contain lots of added sugar. The Good Promise's did neither, and that might account for its less-than-delicious taste, according to the "Shark Tank" judges. 

The Veggie Burst variety, for example, contained a stomach-churning combination of celery, lemon juice, tomato, and cayenne. Despite cursory comments on flavor reformulation, the judges couldn't get past the taste barrier and bid Posada farewell. 

While Karen Posada's story may not count among the biggest "Shark Tank" food fails of all time, it underscores the fact that taste trumps everything else for most consumers, even health-conscious ones. In fact, taste has always ranked as the number-one food purchase driver for consumers, according to the International Food Information Council's 2022 Food and Health Survey. Price takes the number-two spot, edging out nutrition when folks are deciding what to buy. 

For The Good Promise to succeed, improving the ready-to-drink smoothies' flavor would likely have been of paramount importance. There are many ways to make smoothies taste better, among them using top-quality ingredients and avoiding bitter-flavored ones. 

Posada seemed to have the right idea by using only organic ingredients in her prepackaged drink offerings. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough to achieve a universally appealing flavor that would bring the company commercial success.