What Happened to Simply Good Jars After Appearing on Shark Tank?

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Most aspiring chefs dream about a successful career in the highly competitive culinary space, working in top-notch restaurants and creating their own signature meals. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Jared Cannon got to live that dream. For nearly two decades, he worked as a chef with some of the industry’s top names — and then he pivoted his thriving career by launching grab-and-go fresh salads sold in reusable jars.

The idea came to him while pursuing a master’s degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. He noticed that most of the convenient, ready-made meals aren’t particularly healthy and decided that it was time to change that. Taking inspiration from the trend of layered Mason jar meals, Cannon aimed to focus on more than just nutrition — he wanted his salads to contribute as little waste as possible. Hence, the reusable jars.

Cannon’s company, Simply Good Jars, was launched in 2017 with a small $1,000 loan. At first, the jars were sold on a subscription basis, but the business model quickly evolved to selling the salads inside smart coolers, mostly at places where fresh food is hard to find — like airports, hotels, offices, and universities. When the COVID-19 Pandemic unexpectedly shut those places down, Cannon realized the only way to reach the customers was through retail. He appeared on Season 12, Episode 16 of “Shark Tank,” asking for a $500,000 investment.

Cannon’s pitch was simple and straightforward: Fresh, chef-created, delicious salads that people can eat on the go — but instead of tossing the jar away when they’re done, they can either repurpose it or return it to the company. Each jar that gets returned carries a charitable note, as the company donates a meal to someone in need. The Sharks were visibly impressed by the concept of the company and also got to taste the salad, which they praised as very tasty and noticeably fresh. Cannon came to the Sharks asking for $500,000 in exchange for 7% equity, putting the company valuation at over $7 million. He spoke of the company’s success, highlighting its partnership with Cloud Kitchens, Walgreens, and many convenience stores. 

His vision for the business was to build it to $100 million in the following two years, for which he needed a Shark (or two). Despite the strong standing of Simply Good Jars, scaling the company had resulted in big profit losses, which made Daymond John and Robert Herjavec opt out. But the other Sharks were willing to bite. Kevin O’Leary made the first offer; given that he had previously invested in Plated, as well as GreenBox (which was also featured on “Shark Tank”), he had experience in the market. Lori Greiner offered to join in on the deal, then Mark Cuban swept in and secured a joint deal with Greiner, leaving O’Leary out. Cannon received the desired $500,000 investment in exchange for 10% of the company — 5% for Greiner, 5% for Cuban.

Appearing on “Shark Tank” offered massive exposure to Simply Good Jars. After the episode aired in March 2021, the company’s sales increased by 1,200%, and the nifty salads made it onto the shelves of many big retailers. By 2022, the company secured a partnership with Wawa convenience store, a deal that was reportedly four years in the making and undoubtedly got a boost from the “Shark Tank” success. The salad jars also made it to Costco, a wholesaler well-known for its variety of Kirkland Signature prepared foods.

Simply Good Jars’ salads only need to be shaken for the dressing on the bottom to become evenly distributed, and they’re ready to eat straight out of the jar. The product keeps fresh for nine days and costs around $9 when sold directly to the consumer. By 2023, the company’s lineup included the following salads: Rustic Chicken Caesar, Savory Smoked Salmon, Chicken and Bacon Cobb, Ancient Grain Greek, and Basil Pesto Caprese. 

Expanding beyond the salads, three parfaits were also added to the mix: Chocolate Peanut Butter, Lemon Mango, and Apple Crumble. On the charity and sustainability side of things, Simply Good Jars is doing just as well. Its customers return 93% of all jars, which has resulted in tens of thousands of donated meals and well over 8,000 pounds of trash that didn’t end up in a landfill.

Simply Good Jars’ socials have been silent since June 2024, and the website that’s linked in the social media accounts now leads to a broken page. At first, we thought the company might have gone out of business, but after a little online digging, we stumbled upon a brand new website that’s copyrighted to 2025. It therefore looks like Simply Good Jars is still in business but possibly going through a rebrand or a shift in marketing direction.

The new site features a physical store locator and the option to order the products online through the delivery platforms Gopuff (which is slightly different from DoorDash and Instacart) and Gorillas. However, the delivery service doesn’t seem to be available outside NYC, Brooklyn, Chelsea, Harlem, Long Island City, and Philadelphia. The website also comes with an option to request Simply Good Jars at your local store through a pre-designed social media message.

The direction in which Simply Good Jars seems to be expanding is technology. This has actually been a key part of the business since the very beginning — the salads need to be refrigerated, so they are often stored in independent smart coolers, something Cannon highlighted in his “Shark Tank” pitch. He said that of the initial $2.5 million raised, most of it was spent on the purchase of 60 smart fridges.

In May 2024, Simply Good Jars partnered with Primal Kitchen in the food and tech space. The collaboration yielded eight new salads that combined the best of the two brands with fresh, pre-made salads and Primal Kitchen dressings. The products were presented at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago and sold in a high-tech vending machine. Simply Good Jars is trying to patent its unique technology of preserving fresh food and ultimately hopes to bring that innovation to international markets as well.