A Fort Collins company is headed into the shark tank.
The Paleo Diet Bar, a nutrition bar for the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, will be featured on the ABC show “Shark Tank” Friday at 7 p.m.
The bar aids in the transition to a paleo diet lifestyle. The paleo diet focuses on eating like human ancestors once did and is also know as the “caveman diet”.
“I’ve never tried The Paleo Bar, but I’ve heard of the diet and think its interesting,” said Katelyn Valasek, a Colorado State University junior studying business. “I would try it because it is a local company.”
Shauna Sledge, co-founder of The Paleo Diet Bar, came up with a formula for the product after talking to Dr. Loren Cordain, the founder of the Paleolithic movement.
Sledge then went to CSU’s food science lab.
“We showed them what we had as a product and they told us what the nutrition facts were,” Sledge said.
Along with the nutrition panel, the food sciences lab also gives information on a product’s shelf life and how long it can remain in stores.
“I basically went to them and said this is what I’m doing, can you help?” Sledge said. “CSU offered such valuable information and it was virtually free.”
Kaitlynn Montgomery, a sophomore studying natural resource recreation and tourism, is a fan of “Shark Tank.”
“I will definitely be tuning in knowing that someone from our town will be on the show,” she said.
Sledge was unfamiliar with show, but heard that it was helpful in the area she needed help with, distribution and networking.
“At 2 a.m., I went on the website and they happened to have an open call audition in Denver,” Sledge said.
Sledge was given one minute to pitch her product and heard back within three days that she had made it through to go to California.
“There were 45,000 applicants and out of that 50 were chosen to go to California,” Sledge said. “They never guarantee that you’ll be on T.V. until two weeks prior”.
Sledge and The Palo Diet Bar will be featured on “Shark Tank” Friday at 7 p.m.
“Going through the process really solidifies your knowledge of your business,” Sledge said. “The whole process is amazing.”
Collegian Reporter Kendall Krautsack can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @keni444.