Transcripts For CNBC The Profit 20240713

Wondering how many jobs we have to do. Its not always pretty. Everythings gonna change. Everything. But i do it to save jobs, and i do it to make money. This. Lets go to work. Is the profit. In 2007, Zoe Tsoukatos teamed up with her two brothers to launch zoes chocolates. Zoe thank you for calling zoes chocolate. Lemonis . A Confectionery Company based in waynesboro, pennsylvania. Zoe text pam and ask her if she can cover your monday shift. Lemonis their mission to turn out exquisitely handcrafted chocolates inspired by their greek heritage. Eleni i really like the consistency. Lemonis you could say that chocolate is running through their veins. Their family has been in the chocolate business for over 100 years, including their father, george, a greek immigrant. They brought him onboard as their master chocolatier and quickly gained a small following. Pantelis i just wanted to follow up on that order that you wanted for those clients that are coming in next weekend. Lemonis but 10 years in, sales have dropped sharply and their losses are mounting. Zoe you know what . Yeah, refund his entire order. Pantelis thats ridiculous. Lemonis and zoes fear is that her family legacy may disappear. Zoe [bleep] how are you gonna get all these orders out . Lemonis still, my research tells me that there are amazing possibilities with zoes, and im always looking to grow my candy business. So this potential partnership could be very sweet. Dina welcome to zoes. Lemonis hi, there. How are you . Dina good. Nice to meet you. Lemonis what is your name . Dina dina, dina hunter. Lemonis dina, nice to meet you. Can i try a few things . Dina sure. Lemonis theres baklava, black daphne, hazelnut, sesametahini. Wow. Dina because zoes family is greek, a lot of their pieces feature a mediterranean flavor. Lemonis thats really good. Dina yeah. Lemonis i eat chocolate literally every single day. So i know what good chocolate tastes like, and this chocolate was spectacular. Unusual flavors, amazing texture ive never tasted any chocolate like it. Zoe hi. Lemonis how are you . Im marcus. Zoe nice to meet you. Im zoe. Lemonis nice to meet you. I was just eating your chocolate. Zoe oh, good. And you liked it . Lemonis this ones good. This is the baklava one . Zoe yeah. Lemonis what is this one . Zoe sesame. Its like a tahini. Lemonis that ones good. I dont know what this one was. What was that . Zoe pistachio. Lemonis okay. Ive had one, two, three, four, five already. How many flavors are in the case . Zoe probably 18. Lemonis and how many do you have in your library . Zoe i think there are 18. Lemonis oh, so everything you make is out. Zoe yeah. Lemonis it was surprising to me that the case had all this space in it. Zoe i understand. Lemonis ive been in other Chocolate Stores where theres 60, 70, 80 different options, but in this instance, the offering was so anemic that it felt unimpressive. Who came up with the packaging . Who designed it . Zoe i did with the boys. Lemonis you did. Zoe my brothers, yeah. Lemonis whose idea was this business . Zoe my brother pantelis and i were living together in d. C. Lemonis doing what . Zoe i worked for a state and local Government Consulting firm. Lemonis and what was your brother doing . Zoe he was doing marketing, and dad was working elsewhere manufacturing chocolate for another company. Lemonis here in pennsylvania he was doing it . Zoe yeah. And they wanted to move away from handmaking chocolate. Lemonis did they let him go . Zoe yeah. Lemonis they did. Zoe yeah. My brother and i decided to come back and kind of get him back on his feet. Lemonis you just one day said, we have to go help dad. Zoe kind of, yeah. And 10 years later, here we are. Lemonis so, how much of the business do you own . Zoe were at 35, 35, and then the other ones 30. Just the kids. Lemonis your mom and dad dont any of it . Zoe nope. Lemonis your dad works here . Zoe yep. Lemonis so your entire family lives off this business. Zoe yep. Lemonis can we meet them . Zoe sure can. Lemonis its much bigger back here. So is this the whole family . Zoe pantelis. Lemonis hey, im marcus. Nice to meet you. Eleni im the mom, eleni. Nice to meet you. Lemonis eleni, how are you . Very nice to meet you. How are you . George hello, marcus. Lemonis george, right . George yes. Lemonis nice to meet you. George nice to meet you. Petros how you doing . Petros. Lemonis petros, how are you . Petros nice to meet you, marcus. Lemonis now, youve been in the chocolate business for how many years . George almost 40 years. Lemonis and how long ago did you meet . Eleni 39 years ago. He was in greece. Lemonis oh, you were in greece. Who are these pictures of . Zoe thats my moms parents. Petros yeah, and a little push cart in baltimore. Zoe in baltimore, where they were handrolling chocolates, and my dad came over. He learned the trade. George i love to work for my kids. Lemonis its nice to have your children support you. George oh, yes. I think thats the most important, to love each other. Lemonis this place is it got a lot bigger. Petros yeah, right. Lemonis it goes back even petros it goes back farther, yeah. Lemonis holy. Petros this is the kitchen, where we manufacture everything. Lemonis oh, my gosh. I just want to see the process. Petros so were boiling the cream, and we have our raw chocolate, a little butter. Lemonis can i stir it . Oh, yeah. Petros so this is gonna cool. After it cools, well cut it into squares. Itll go through the enrober and get covered in chocolate. Lemonis in plain chocolate. Petros right. Lemonis why dont you do some basic things like chocolatecovered pretzels and chocolatecovered almonds . Zoe we have a lot of unique products. I mean, you can get the chocolatecovered pretzel anywhere. Lemonis people will pay more for a zoes pretzel because its zoes chocolate, and the chocolate is whats amazing. Shouldnt matter what it goes on. You need more. News flash pennsylvania is the heart of the pretzel business in the united states. You want to use the same resources and the expertise that you have to make products that are more relatable. Everybody loves chocolatecovered pretzels or chocolatecovered anything. Wheres the research and development happening . Thats where those ideas come from. And who leads that research and development . Zoe well, technically. Petros i mean, i think we zoe yeah. Lemonis i kind of knew that answer already. Thats why theres no products. Holy. Petros it keeps going back, yeah. Lemonis even further . Petros yeah, yeah. Lemonis this place is huge. Is this the shipping department for online . Petros for online, right. Everything that gets processed goes through here. Lemonis how much business do you do online in total . Zoe we do about 50,000 to 60,000 online. Lemonis how do you do marketing . Zoe Digital Marketing through facebook ads. Lemonis can you help me understand everybodys role . Pantelis yeah, so i help with the outside sales, finances, as well. Lemonis whos in charge of the business . Petros zoe. Pantelis more so zoe. Lemonis and then what is your role . Petros my role is the kitchen. Lemonis would you say that the entire fronttoback of the building, would you call it organized . Pantelis no. Lemonis what prevents you specifically from organizing things that you see that are unorganized . Do you have to ask zoe if youre allowed to . Pantelis no, its like a snowball, then theres Something Else that needs to be organized, then theres Something Else. Lemonis so its just like, eff it. Im not even gonna start. Pantelis yeah, its kind of like yeah. Lemonis i was trying to put my blinders on to not see all the disorganization and the mess everywhere. What i was focusing on is the infrastructure and the possibilities. It had the capacity to really pump out real volume. Whats the brand identity . Zoe the products good, we buy locally sourced ingredients. Lemonis we have a box. We have a pamphlet. I dont really know what the story is here. Zoe the insert is our flavors. Lemonis what is your real story . Why did you create the brand . Zoe i think the fact that were siblings. Lemonis like, youre siblings. Do i know that . Zoe i do think we have a good story. Lemonis i agree you have a good story. I just dont agree that youve told it yet. You guys put in blood, sweat, and tears to go help dad. Your dads a greek chocolatier. All thats the story behind it. Tell people. Zoe but, i mean, why would i choose one Chocolate Company over another . I mean, you buy it because i like the product that theyre making. Its not family stuff like that. Lemonis i just want to just spend a minute with you out front, zoe, just you and i. Look, its paramount for any good Retail Company to have a story behind it, why it got in business, why it does what it does. But when i look at zoes retail material, their branding, their brochures, theres no mention of any of that. And i can tell that zoes getting uncomfortable with it. But i dont care. Im gonna keep pushing her. Why are you so uncomfortable with telling people how this business came about . Whyd you roll your eyes . Zoe i mean, its just, like, i hate it saying it because its embarrassing for our dad. It has no bearing on what we do. You know, its over, its done, and, i mean, here we are. Lemonis what is obvious to me is how much youve poured into this. Zoe yeah. Lemonis and for me, it isnt just about money, its about what you gave up, moving back here, going through this on a daily basis. It really looks like youve sacrificed everything for this. Zoe but for having been here 10 years, i think its painful to see that we havent gotten to the potential that we know we can be it. You know, were not stable at the age that were at. Lemonis is it tight financially . Like, no cash . Zoe yeah. Lemonis and so how do you keep the doors open . Zoe well, in the summertime, we had to get a line of credit. Lemonis oh, you got a line of credit. Lot of debt on the business . Zoe yeah. I think about 170,000. Lemonis that much . Zoe yeah. For us, its kind of one of those things, like, okay, well, what else could we do at this point . You know, weve been doing this for 10 years. If this doesnt work. Lemonis you feel like its close to failing . Zoe i feel like the last couple years, its just been declining, and i cant figure out why. It just feels like were bleeding somewhere. Sometimes, we wont get paid, or sometimes, one of us will get paid and then well just split it three ways. Lemonis oy. Zoe or we havent paid my dad for a couple months. Lemonis lets dig in to the numbers a little bit. So the revenue was what in 2016 . Pantelis 675,000. Lemonis and in 2015, it was 757,000 . So why the drop . Thats a significant drop. Pantelis we had issues a lot. Like, some distributors kind of dropped us. Zoe whole foods. Lemonis whole foods . Zoe we lost our whole foods. Lemonis how did you lose all these accounts . What happened . Pantelis they didnt want to sell our product. Zoe cause we dont come up with more products. Pantelis yeah, whole foods was like, lets do a candy bar that has walnuts and pecans, because its, like, in, its a fad, but well be like, i dont think so. Lemonis why . Pantelis because we dont like it. We dont think its a good idea sometimes. Petros right. Were gourmet, but we also dont want to be mainstream and do what everyone else is doing. Thats how weve gotten to 18 awesome chocolate pieces. Lemonis in 10 years. Look, i understand why zoe and her brothers want to protect their brand, but theres a point where protecting the brand becomes almost counterproductive. Instead of letting the brand breathe and having people understand it and embrace it, theyre burying it in a hole. And theyre gonna bury the business with it. 82,000 loss in 15. What did you lose last year . Pantelis i think its like 120,000. Lemonis so, how are you guys funding these losses . Pantelis we have an loc. Lemonis a line of credit. Pantelis yeah. Lemonis its how much . Pantelis 90,000. Lemonis okay. What else . Pantelis so another 30,000. Lemonis another line of credit, so two lines of credit . Pantelis yeah. We have our car loan. Its a company car. Lemonis okay. How much is that . Pantelis 30,000. Lemonis how about credit cards . Pantelis 12,000. Lemonis okay. Thats 162,000 in debt. How much cash is in the bank right now, today . Pantelis 60,000. Lemonis 60,000. Pantelis yeah. Lemonis we need to figure out how to generate more revenue. Zoe just need more sales. Lemonis you need more sales. And you need to have a clear story. You need to have a clear brand identity. I dont want to have to Ask Companies who they are before i do business with them. I want them to tell me without me asking. Whats the story . What makes the flavors unique . What are the unique pro i dont know anything. Thats the problem, but the products are really freaking good. And the fact that you guys give and give and give to your parents, it tells me a lot about who you are as people. I want to make an offer. The company today has 60,000 in cash and 162,000 in debt, so my offer is 250,000 for 50 of the business. I want to be equal partners. The money will be used to pay down some of the debt and the rest will go in to organizing the facility, making some retrofits to the retail location, launching the Online Business, doing some product development, and potentially coming up with some new packaging. How does that sound . Pantelis we were gonna ask for 60 . Lemonis so my offer is 250,000 for 50 , and your offer is. Pantelis 40 . Lemonis why . Petros moreso because were a family business, and weve worked so hard, and i know our dad has put in a lot of time and has invested a lot of himself, and i think that would make him happiest. Lemonis okay. Pantelis what do you think . Lemonis 200,000 for 40 . But i have full financial and operational control full, 100 . Zoe question. Lemonis yeah. Zoe so you want to add, like, pretzels and chips and stuff like that. Whatever. Lemonis okay. Zoe how would we talk about it and go for the deciding factor . Lemonis i would decide by myself. When i say im 100 in charge, it isnt just for fun. I mean it. You are not in charge anymore. If your business is in trouble and you need my help, log on to. Peyton, what abrad, welcome to peytonville. Whats this for . Song inspiration. I started in my garage, but nationwide protects so much i had to expand. Nationwide helps protect everything you see in here, brad. Every family, every business, every dream. See mrs. Hoffman . Nationwide protects her home and car, but also her dream of retiring to become a yoga instructor. Oh, they have backstories. Of course they do. Here, i got more to show you. Keep up, now. A little hustle. The holidays are here and so is tmobiles newest, most powerful signal. And we want to keep you connected to those you love, with the new iphone 11. So tmobile is giving you an iphone 11 on us for each new line of unlimited. For yourself, or up to a family of four. Keep your family connected, and hurry into tmobile today, to get up to four iphone 11s on us. Only at tmobile. Drill . Cordless. Noted. Introducing the capital one walmart rewards card. I love it thats a good one. Earn unlimited 5 back on everything you buy at walmart online. Perfect for all their hints. Okay the capital one walmart rewards card. Unlimited 5 back at walmart online, and unlimited rewards everywhere else. Whats in your wallet . And unlimited rewards everywhere else. Frustrated that clean clothes you want to wear always seem to need an iron . Try bounce wrinkle guard dryer sheets. The bounce wrinkle guard shorts have fewer wrinkles and static, and more softness. Its the worlds first mega sheet that does the job of three dryer sheets bounce out wrinkles. [ dramatic music ]ing ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back it isnt just for fun i mean it. You are not in charge anymore. And if this is something that youre nervous about, then you shouldnt do the deal. You have to trust that im not gonna put you in harms way. So, my counteroffer is 200,000 for 40 . But i have full financial and operational control. Zoe okay. Were ready. Were ready for it. Pantelis yeah, yeah. Lemonis we have a deal . Zoe we have a deal. Pantelis yeah, we have a deal. Thank you. Zoe thank you. Petros thank you very much. Lemonis i decided to invest 200,000 into the business. Let me be super clear i am 100 in charge. I really believe that the product is good, but not great yet. I believe the Product Offering is too narrow, so we are gonna develop new products, new flavors, new ideas. Were gonna work on our storefront. The Retail Experience for me falls flat. Im not wowed by anything that happens when i walk in the store. So i want to really work on that. Were gonna work on the Online Business and really understand how to manage capacity. This place has a ton of capacity, but we need more volume. And we want to look for new strategic partnerships. So were gonna come up with cool ways to expand the business that isnt just storefronts. The thing i am blown away by is learning what this business really means to the family and the history behind it. And im a little confused on why you guys hide that story because i really believe that people buy from people. It has to mean something that these three young people had the lack of selfishness to make a sacrifice to do things for the people that brought them into this world. That is the reason that i did the deal. George im gonna help my kids. They saved me. [ sniffles ] lemonis yeah. I get it. Zoe, i asked you when i met you, what makes this product different . And you couldnt really tell me. And im telling you as i stand in front of you and i look at you in your face, thats what makes it different. And we have to tell that story. Theres nothing wrong with it. So, were gonna get to work. My job is to help your family figure out how to take your gift and share it with more people. Okay . All right, great job. Pull up the website so i can see everything. How many today . Zoe one. Lemonis one order today. Okay. And thats the website . Zoes chocolate . Zoe zoes chocolate. Lemonis ill see you in a minute. In order for this business to really be profitable, its gonna have to capitalize on its online store, not just this small space in waynesboro. But as i look around this facility, its wildly unorganized. Rather than talking about it, i want to put it to the test. Im at this business, zoes chocolate, and what im trying to do is create the Worlds Largest focus group, so im gonna do a Facebook Live video. Process orders, and see how they measure up. So what i need you to do is log on to zoeschocolate. Com, place an order. Theyre amazing. I normally would not do this, but i need to prove a point. Zoe oh, look at all these orders. Oh, my. Lot of orders. Lemonis so what i did is i did a Facebook Live video. Its already had 8,000 views in 15 minutes. How many orders are there . Zoe a lot. 150. Lemonis 150 orders. Okay, lets get to work. Lets go, guys. Lets get these orders filled cause theyre gonna keep coming in. Zoe why dont you start shipping those . Pantelis no, no, no, get a highlighter. Zoe no, this is fine. The glass things right there. Petros right here, right . The things here. Zoe oh, is it there . Eleni here it is. Pantelis where . In here . Lemonis lets go, guys. Pantelis thank you for calling zoes chocolates. How may i help you . Okay, thank you very much. Lemonis what did they say . Pantelis they want to add an item. Lemonis does the system allow you to modify their order . Zoe no. Just go reorder it before you cancel it. Reorder. Print this real quick. Just print it. Pantelis should we count how many we have . Zoe no, just dont even count. Pantelis no, im saying make sure it adds up to that. Zoe no. Lemonis now, come on, guys. No systems, no process they look like chickens with their heads cut off. They really struggled. I love the fact that everybodys pitching in now to solve the problem, but i could see how you guys just trip over each other. This is the reason theres a problem. Now, in fairness to them, they didnt expect the volume. But i would expect that whoever was working in the internet shipping department and a small staff would be able to fulfill those orders without disrupting the kitchen or disrupting the retail store. Zoe so, what should we do in this instance . Lemonis youre the leader. Zoe but thats why im getting everybody to pitch in. Lemonis do you think thats the best use of everybodys time . Pantelis listen, ill organize it, you go do your thing. If i need help, ill call you. Zoe how are you gonna get all these orders out . Lemonis these orders are not gonna get out today. Because nothings organized. Zoe i dont think of that with our company. Why would you choose all blue . Lemonis i mean, honestly, if you want to stop, we can. These guys put a lot of work into this. Skip to the good part with alkaseltzer plus. Now with 25 more concentrated power. Nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. Oh, what a relief it is so fast the inlaws have moved in with us. And our Adult Children are here. So we save by using tide. Which means we use less. Three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. Anybody seen my pants . 1 stain and odor fighter, 1 trusted. Its got to be tide. We ordered 10,000 units. That sounds good. Pretty cool, huh . Theyre speaking to mom in japanese, and mom hears them in english. Can you understand me . Yes, i can understand you. Okay. I have a lot of questions. How do you guys fly . What does santa do in the summer . Is mrs. Claus a good cook . Do you guys get presents . Can you roller skate or ice skate . So josh, you going for our drive safe and save discount . Yup, using the app. Driving safe. Heh. You wanna go . Wanna go bro . Hey, uh, do not mess with my discount. Woooo you could save up to 30 . Lets go nice to meet you, go get em tiger woooo sounds like youve got this . Yeah. Definitely. Get a discount up to 30 with drive safe and save™ from state farm. Because nothings organized. I sent you into a chaos zone. Zoe yeah. Lemonis and what happened was, theres no system and no process. You have to figure out how to delegate properly. What do you want everybody to do . I know this is a lot. Like, i know its like drinking out of a fire hose, i do. Pantelis, you are responsible for the organization of this entire facility. Pantelis okay. Lemonis and nobody can help you because i want you to take ownership of one thing and have nobody mess with you. Okay, guys, thank you. Zoe okay. Thanks. Lemonis while pantelis works on organizing the whole shipping area, i want to get started on renovating the retail space. I want to figure out a way to eliminate that wall and open up this whole space. Were moving all the shipping to the back, and were gonna take the old retail space and combine it with the old shipping space with a giant window, so we can see whats happening in the kitchen. A floor thats industrial, but it looks nice. Carroll how about these Ceiling Tiles . Lemonis you could replace these with metal tiles. Carroll and i can get the tin put in there, the metal tin mains. Lemonis that would look nice. While constructions going on up front, the retail store will be closed. But i want them to continue in the kitchen developing new products. So what i want you to do is develop another 12 products. Can you do something with ouzo . Petros yeah. So this is gonna go into the mediterranean flavor profile. Lemonis okay, what else do you have . What other ideas . George chai. Lemonis chai . George yeah. Lemonis okay, what else . George curry. Lemonis curry . You like that idea . Mmhmm. Okay. We have to broaden our menu so that we can broaden our customer base. Good morning. Zoe good morning. Petros good morning. Lemonis how are you . Zoe good. How are you . Lemonis i asked zoe and petros to meet me in my office in los angeles. In that office is a company i invested in about a year ago called flex watches. Over the last year, these guys have proved themselves to be masters at marketing and branding, so i wanted them to sit down with zoe and petros and see if they can come up with some new ideas. So over the last year, ive turned over all of my web businesses and the creative that goes with that to them. So no matter what business it is, theyre involved with it from beginning to end. What were gonna start with is the results of the Facebook Live video that i called a giant focus group. All right. Trevor which was amazing. Over 150,000 video views, 2,000plus comments, and almost 6,000 likes on that one video. But when we looked at the comments, one of the comments was, i wish there was more info about the company. So what is the story . Zoe so our dad was manufacturing chocolate for 35 years with his brotherinlaw. Petros our dad lost his job, he got laid off, and he was in a really bad position. We wanted to get our dad working again, and we wanted to create something completely new. Zoe we were all working in d. C. And living in d. C. , and we packed up and we just left because we didnt want our dad to be out of a job. We wanted him to continue having something that he could feel proud about again. Trevor i think thats so special. Brad thats a really powerful story, that i think youd be surprised on how much customers follow your brand and believe in it and support you. Zoe its embarrassing for our dad or maybe he feels bad, and thats why i think, like, we dont like saying it. Lemonis i think people buy from people they connect with and they can relate to. Its just about taking this information and spreading it across the entire business. So why dont you start with your inspiration boards . Sean so the first step in our process is usually to do research on the brand and find out the brands story and where you guys come from. We went back and we looked at inspiration from the mediterranean and from greece. And thats where we first start is looking at kind of iconic visuals that connect with that story. We take that imagery and we start to build just a basic Color Palette off of that. Lemonis what do you think of the Color Palette . Zoe i dont think of that with our company. Why would you choose all blue . How does it differentiate between different flavors . Petros like, when i see that, it reminds me of, uh. Zoe going to church. Trevor i mean, if that cross is gone, does that change your mind set on the church . Zoe no, the font is very churchy to me. Its like being in grace. And our circle with the big z in the middle, its very identifiable. Lemonis i mean, honestly, if you want to stop, we can because. Zoe no, i mean. Lemonis . These guys put a lot of work into this, and i feel like youre not even being openminded about hearing what they have to say. Youre like, i dont like it. Sean our initial reaction to the branding and the logo was that we didnt know how it connected to you. Zoe whats the story to this, that were greek . Lemonis really . Zoe i 100 agree. Lemonis why does it look like this . Zoe cause we overlooked it. Pantelis well get it together. Lemonis when . Pantelis were gonna get it together. Lemonis when are you gonna get it together . Laso you can enjoy it even ifst youre sensitive. Se. Yet some say it isnt real milk. I guess those cows must actually be big dogs. Sit i said sit were giving the ultimate gift. Employee pricing for all. So you can drive the only pickups in america that make the season shine even brighter. Carry more gifts than ever before. And bring the magic of the holidays to everyone in the back to back motortrend truck of the year®. Get the gifts that have it all with employee pricing for all at the ram big finish event. With employee pricing for all still fresh. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables and that has an effect on how i work today. Ive been trained to notice things that most human eyes dont see. I treat every car i work on like its my own, and take so much pride in what i do. We sign off, so you can sign on. For your worst sore throat pain, try Vicks Vapocool drops. Its not candy, its powerful relief. Ahhh vaporize sore throat pain with Vicks Vapocool drops and try new vapocool spray. 6, 7, 8 big dreams start with small steps. But dedication can get you there. So just start small. Start saving. Easily set, track and control your goals right from the chase mobile® app. Chase. Make more of whats yours®. These guys put a lot of work into this and i feel like youre not even being openminded about hearing what they have to say. Youre like, i dont like it. Sean our initial reaction to the branding and the logo was that we didnt know how it connected to you. Zoe whats the story with this, that were greek . Lemonis your dad is an immigrant from greece. He came to this country and became a chocolatemaker. I literally was shocked by zoes reaction. She should have at least given them the decency of some feedback or some idea, but what i saw was, i hate everything. Is there any changes that you would make that you feel like would get you closer to where you would like to be . Zoe i dont like the top. I dont like the cross at all. Lemonis so the icon this icon right here youd like to see something different. Zoe yeah. Lemonis okay. Im open to coming up with new ones, but i dont think its so visceral that, like, people are gonna be like, oh [bleep] im not buying the chocolate. Its a workinprocess. Look, zoe needs to clearly understand that when she took my check that i really was 100 in charge. We are gonna make changes to the business. We are gonna make changes to the process. And the business is gonna be successful, in spite of how she feels right now. This packaging is gonna start getting produced next week. And so youre gonna be working directly with sean on landing at a final place because we are going to have new packaging and new colors. Get to work, okay, guys . Thank you. Awesome job. Trevor nice meeting you. Eleni hey, we put dad to work. Zoe nice. So i wanted to talk to you guys about, um, how he wants us to tell the story about why we came back home. I feel uncomfortable talking about it, and i dont know exactly what. How to handle it. It was a tough time for everybody, and i dont like reliving it. And i dont want dad to be upset or to be sad. Eleni i think its an important thing you should do because it was a difficult time, and i think, for the longest time, we put it under the rug, but i dont think were unique in situations like this. And i dont think we should feel embarrassed because you have to know how important you guys were all for us, especially for dad. George how strong we got is because Everybody Loves it. cause of you. Eleni the fact that weve managed to get past everything, you should be proud. You should be proud because youve proven how much you care for us, also, and i think thats extremely important as parents, that you have always been there for us. I dont think we could have really asked for anything more. Zoe well, mom, youre such a good teacher. Such a good mom. George we love you. Zoe i love you. Lemonis the remodel of the retail space is coming along great, and its gonna provide a much more open feeling. Were putting giant stone slabs as counters, and were putting in vintage metal ceilings to echo the old tin ceilings that were used during zoes grandparents time. Zoe this is where the bar would be with some bar stools. Lemonis i like the colors that youve picked. I want to make sure that we dont lose our sense of history. Im back at the shop, and i want to check on how pantelis is doing with organizing the entire facility. Okay, i like what im seeing so far. Zoe yay. We worked our asses off organizing it. Lemonis guys, it doesnt look that much more organized, it just looks like theres just less [bleep] here. Pantelis we had to, you know, get orders out. We still had to do online shipping. Sorry you dont like it, but its pretty much the best that could be done. Lemonis okay, well, what about that . Pantelis those are orders. Lemonis look at it. Pantelis what should i do with it . Lemonis organize it. Pantelis its organized online, wholesale. Lemonis i mean. Pantelis dont let it fool you. Its not that bad. Lemonis dont let it fool me . No, no, dont let it fool you. Pantelis no, it didnt lemonis its not that good. I thought i was very clear about what i wanted pantelis to do set up a process, clean the place out, throw out the trash. It doesnt look that different to me. We got to fix it up. Really . Its like a goddamn maze here. Is this guy coal or something . Pantelis thats the chocolate from where it drips underneath the enrober. Lemonis so heres the moment of truth. Do you guys want me to be your Business Partner or not . All yeah. Zoe yeah, i mean, we called you for that. Were hard workers. Were up for a challenge. Lemonis i dont want to be here cause of [bleep] like this. This makes me crazy. Zoe i 100 agree. We need to clean it. Lemonis why does it look like this . Zoe it shouldnt look like that cause we overlooked it. Lemonis you overlooked that, you overlooked the stuff in the back. Zoe you didnt see all the stuff that we did do. We did as much as we physically could do. Pantelis well get it together. Lemonis when . Pantelis were gonna get it together. Lemonis when are you gonna get it together . Pantelis im doing it right now. Lemonis when . Zoe we want to get better. Our ultimate goal is to make this company great. Lemonis but i can only see that with actions. Meg whats the largest order youve ever done . Pantelis 7,000 bars. Meg 7,000 is less than two ships. I think, okay, maybe not a fit for global fulfillment and distribution. We need a solution. Ut their phones down. Introducing. Smartdogs. The first dogs trained to train humans. Stopping drivers from liking. Selfieing. And whatever this is. Available to the public. Never. Smartdogs are not the answer. But geico has a simple tip. Turn on do not disturb while driving mode. Brought to you by geico. Laso you can enjoy it even ifst youre sensitive. Se. Yet some say it isnt real milk. I guess those cows must actually be big dogs. Sit i said sit when your vneck looks more like a uneck. Thats when you know, its halfwashed. Downy helps prevent stretching by conditioning fibers, so clothes look newer, longer. Downy and its done. Man 1 vo proof of less joint pain woman 1 oc this is my body of proof. And clearer skin. Man 2 vo proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 2 vo . With humira. Woman 3 vo humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. Avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Man 3 vo ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 4 vo go to humira. Com to see proof in action. [dinosdont even [dinosaur noises] im serious [dinosaur noises] yes fritolay variety packs. Packed with possibilities. Our ultimate goal is to make this company great. Lemonis but i can only see that with actions. Zoe help us. Were trying to learn how to do that better. Lemonis heres what we need to do clean the place and get it organized first, which is what i thought i was coming back to. I thought i sent the message that i wanted the place cleaned up, but i wanted to give them a chance to do it themselves. I feel like the only way im gonna get it done is if i start doing it, and maybe theyll take a clue from it. Im pissed. How are you, buddy . Brian good afternoon. Lemonis good seeing you. Brian welcome. Lemonis joes stone crab is the secondlargest restaurant in the united states, but what they also do is they have a phenomenal online shipping department. I wanted to take pantelis there so he could see the importance of every last detail. Brian im doing about 900 boxes out of this area here alone. Lemonis a day. Brian thats two to three fedex trucks full. Pantelis thats incredible. Lemonis but look at the boxes. Pantelis yeah, i see the upc, the size, and its all set up. Everybody knows whats going in each package. Brian this is my product for tonight. Pantelis wow. Lemonis look how organized. Lemonis this is what the walk in cooler needs to look like. Pantelis yeah, it can look like this. Lemonis next time i see you at the shop, it really needs to feel like youve applied these things. Okay . Pantelis okay. Lemonis so, do you like this or not like this . Zoe no. Do not like it. Lemonis we need to figure out our branding and were gonna do it now, so im bringing more mockups for zoe to review. Zoe well, i definitely dont like the font. Thats a no for me, but the boys like it. This could potentially be cool. Pantelis yeah. Lemonis i love the fact that zoe was willing to compromise on the logo. The cocoa bean and the colors tie back to their heritage. Meanwhile, were putting the finishing touches on the entire renovation and were hanging pictures that speak to the familys history. The shelves are going in, but most importantly, were putting in a ton of customer seating. I want the locals to feel comfortable to hang out here and have a cup of hot chocolate. And with the grand opening right around the corner, im anxious to see what new products petros has come up with. Petros this is a quinoa brittle. Lemonis that is good. Also, im super excited that pantelis took what he learned at joes stone crab and implemented it here in the back. Its now a welloiled machine with every detail thought of. Pantelis starting here, all of our barcode upcs are labeled here. Lemonis love that. Finished goods here. Pantelis finished goods, as well, yeah. Lemonis all labeled. I think you did an amazing job. It feels like a real production process now, and its, like, ready for volume. Lastly, i have some exciting news that i want to share with the family. I am taking you to miami. We are going to be meeting with Norwegian Cruise Lines to put your chocolate on all of their boats around the world. Zoe thats awesome. Pantelis amazing. Lemonis they needed to have a library of types of pieces 50 pieces, 18 bars, and 12 novelty pieces. Zoe well have it ready. Lemonis i set up a meeting with the Senior Executives at Norwegian Cruise Line for zoes. I felt like luxury meets luxury, and i ultimately wanted to give zoes a chance to be part of their cruise lines that are around the world. Zoe wed like to tell you guys a little bit about our company. So we grew up in the family business, and aside from having our dad be mr. Willy wonka, we loved it. But ultimately, we all left and went to school, continued our professions, and after about 30some years, our father lost his job. So we left our jobs, we moved back into our parents house to continue on the family legacy and also start something for our dad again. Petros we wanted to create flavors that really stepped outside of the box with a large array of products. So we have everything from apple pie to baklava chocolates to even chocolatecovered edamame for your more exotic flights. We have things like glutenfree chocolatecovered cookies for kids. Pantelis and were committed. I mean, no matter how big an order, no matter what you might need specifically for your vips or your birthday parties, maybe even a wedding, we make it happen. Meg thats great. The three of you seem super passionate about your brand, but whats the largest order youve ever done . Pantelis um, 7,000 bars. Meg 7,000 is less than two ships. Pantelis okay. Meg so, when i think about that, i think, okay, maybe not a fit for global fulfillment and distribution based on the conversation weve had. Were oscar mayer deli fresh your very first sandwich,m. Your mammoth masterpiece. And. Whatever this was. Because we make our meat with the good of the deli and no artificial preservatives. Make every sandwich count with oscar mayer deli fresh. Cordless. Noted. Thats a good one. Introducing the capital one walmart rewards card. Earn unlimited 5 back on everything you buy at walmart online. Whats in your wallet . Super emma just about sleeps in her cape. But when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide pods free gentle. Its gentle on her skin, and dermatologist recommended. Tide free gentle. Safe for skin with psoriasis and eczema. Introducing a razor that works differently. The gillette skinguard. Designed with a guard between the blades that helps protect skin. It guards against razor burn on the neck and irritation on the face. Get the shave youve been waiting for. Gillette skinguard. [ dramatic music ]ing ] ahhhh ahhhh elliott. You came back s the largest order youve ever done . Pantelis um, 7,000 bars. Meg 7,000 is less than two ships. Pantelis okay. Meg so, when i think about that, i think, okay, maybe not a fit for global fulfillment and distribution. Zoe were underutilized, for sure. We have the capacity to do at least 5 times what were doing right now. Meg which is roughly. Pantelis we do about 700,000 pieces. Zoe a year. Ross you think youre producing 20 of what youre capable of . Petros i would estimate about, yeah, about 20 . Ross well, i think wed start with one ship. Thats typically what we do with anything new. Lemonis can we taste some product . Meg yes zoe absolutely. Petros i think the seasalt caramel is really nice. Our ouzo piece is excellent. Meg thats delicious. Ross mm. Thats good. Meg ive never tasted anything quite like that. Petros what i wanted to focus on was the fact that we can customize anything for you. We can even put your logo imprinted on our chocolate piece. Pantelis so this is a coconut curry. Meg i love curry. I love all the variety. Tim love it all. Ross thats great. Meg oh, my gosh. Thats amazing. Lemonis yeah. Zoe what can we do to get your business . What is something that you would like to see from us . Meg were always looking for brands that have recognition or a key differentiator to bring onboard. I think your heritage and how you came into this business is actually something that really differentiates you. The more you can share that with people through the product, through the visual identity of your company, i think the more it can be a strength for you. Zoe can we leave here today with a handshake that we will develop a program for you guys . Meg we would love to see the program you have to offer. Zoe thank you very much. Ross pleasure. Zoe pleasure. Thank you so much. Tim thank you. Lemonis im proud that zoe had the confidence in her business, her process, and her product to actually ask this billiondollar company for the sale. She went for it. Todays the day of the grand opening, and i couldnt be more excited to get the store put together. Okay. The new space looks amazing. I put over 100,000 into renovating the facility i installed new floors, new ceiling, a giant window to look inside, new lighting, new fixtures, new displays. The new look and branding came out amazing. Its got a touch of what zoe wanted and a touch of what i wanted. But what was most important is the picture of george. Ultimately, this was about him. Are we ready . Zoe yeah. Eleni were ready. George yes zoe lets do it. George everything is gorgeous. Weve gone through a lot of ups and downs many years ago, and thanks to my kids, very, very happy. And very proud. Lemonis wow. George, since this business was all really built for you youre the one that taught everybody everything i would like you to be the one to turn the sign. George okay. Lemonis okay, are you ready . George im ready. [ bells jingle ] zoe hello. Welcome. Lemonis go around. You can sample anything you want. Welcome. This is zoe. Zoe hi. Very nice to meet you. Pantelis we have a hazelnut for you. Its hazelnut with roasted hazelnuts on top. You like that . Good, good. Lemonis there are tons of people coming through the doors, and for me, this is the start of something really big and new. Petros did an amazing job with the new flavors. Zoe did an amazing job getting the store set up. And pantelis put in a great process. How were the pretzels . Were the pretzels good . Woman amazing man potato chips were better. Lemonis potato chips were better . And the pretzels were . Woman oh, awesome. Lemonis pretzels were good. Zoe awesome. Pantelis wed like to take a quick second to say thank you to you, big guy. Pantelis thank you. Pantelis means a lot for us, you know, being part of this. [ applause ] lemonis as i stand here today, im proud of whats been done. You can see the pride on their parents face. You can feel the pride in the town. This is a true family business. Zoe hello. Man hi. Zoe how did you like everything today . Man best chocolate ive ever had. Zoe thank you. Lemonis the most important thing thats happened, for me, is zoes transformation, not only her understanding of the importance of her store, but her willing to listen to other people and compromise. Im very proud of how you handled this whole process. I really enjoyed it. Zoe thank you. I appreciate it. Lemonis now the hard work begins. Pantelis yeah, were ready for it. Lemonis very proud of you, pantelis. Pantelis thank you very much. Petros thank you very much for everything. Lemonis really proud of you. You have a great family and great parents. Ill see you soon. Rachel this is our snickerdoodle. Lemonis these are actually pretty spectacular. An l. A. Mom set out to conquer the cookie market, taking a Famous Family recipe. Rachel this is my mom, yeah. Lemonis we got to meet mom. So, this is originally your idea. Jackie yeah. Lemonis . And building a multimilliondollar manufacturing facility. Wow. But the money never followed. The business has lost 2. 9 million. Owner Rachel Galant was influenced to borrow big and invest big by her optimistic salesman and boyfriend, david. David my getting 10 million, 20 million, 50 million a year of revenue is not a problem. Lemonis now the lenders are banging down the door. Rachel im going to go afterbrace for the worst. Nally. Get ready for the worst moments of your life. [ sighs ] lemonis and the Company Still doesnt understand just how much trouble theyre in. The reason were going through this process is because youre being accused of fraud. If i cant help them face reality and find a way out of their jam. You sort of just make up numbers. David im not making up a number, so lets go back to