Local entrepreneurs hope to butter up Dragons

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This article was published 16/03/2022 (1368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of Manitoba entrepreneurs hope to butter up some dragons.

Landon Kroeker and Rob Sengotta pitched their business — Von Slick’s Finishing Butter — to Dragons’ Den producers recently.

“It was exhilarating,” said Kroeker, a marketing professional.

The Middlebro, Man.-based entrepreneurs applied to a call for auditions last July. If chosen by producers, the duo will travel to Toronto and highlight their finishing butters to a panel of five venture capitalists, in hopes one will partner with them and broaden their market.

The pair could hear if they’ve made it to the live show this month or next.

“We thought, ‘There’s a lot of potential here,’ and that’s something Dragons look for, is that unique product that has a food category that’s pretty open,” Kroeker said.

Von Slick’s Finishing Butter launched in April. Since then, about 77 retailers sell the products, Kroeker said. Up to 14 restaurants are creating specialty meals highlighting the butters, he said.

The six butter choices are infused with herbs, spices and ingredients like mushrooms and roasted red peppers. They’re meant to be spread across cooked foods, like steak or salmon, as a final touch.

Kroeker said he and Sengotta, a chef, received an email Jan. 24 from Dragons’ Den producers saying Von Slick’s would have a video call audition — a mock pitch — on Jan. 27. In a whirlwind three days, the Manitoban entrepreneurs peppered each other with questions, set up displays in their headquarters and went over facts and numbers.

“We were pretty confident going in that we had most of the bases covered,” Kroeker said. “When it comes to the numbers, and the marketing, and the challenges and the opportunities, (Sengotta) and I have been discussing that since day one.”

A typical pitch lasts about 30 minutes, Kroeker said. His and Sengotta’s surpassed 40.

“At first, it’s very intimidating when you start your pitch because you’re quiet, and you’ve been rehearsing this thing 100 times over,” Kroeker said.

“Once we were able to get into (it) and start rolling with talking about the product… it was a ton of fun.”

Kroeker said he’s not assuming anything but believes he and Sengotta “put on a good performance.”

The two wish to partner with dragon Arlene Dickinson, who has a business growth ecosystem that can scale food companies globally.

Kroeker said Von Slick’s would like to expand west, then east and into the United States.

Meantime, he and Sengotta work part-time at Buffalo Point Resort (where they met) and part-time running Von Slick’s. Restaurants in the province will unveil Von Slick’s meals, like salted caramel finishing butter on pancakes or French toast, in the upcoming months.

Four Smitty’s locations launched Von Slick’s Roasted Red Pepper Finishing Butter wings in January as a monthly feature. The Steinbach location’s head chef, Clayton Hadaller, collaborated with Kroeker on the idea.

“The team at Von Slicks was awesome to work with and put a lot of support behind the flavour,” Kaely Dick, who co-owns Smitty’s restaurants in Steinbach, Meadowood and Pembina South, wrote in an email.

Filming for the next Dragons’ Den season will begin in May, Kroeker said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com