nutburgers.com
nutburgers.com

The final entrepreneur to enter the “West Texas Investors Club” Clubhouse for this season is Carla Johnston of Carla Lee’s NutBurgers, seeking $800,000 for eight percent equity.

Carla Lee’s NutBurgers, promoting the slogan “nuttin but love from Mama Earth,” provides a meat alternative to regular burgers. These burgers are organic, non-GMO, and gluten-free. Their website states, “we believe the best ingredients come from nature. Understanding that our diet greatly impacts our overall health and well-being, we support the right to know what’s in our food and insist on real nutrient-rich fuel that refreshes and strengthens healthy bodies, hearts, and minds.”

They also sell NutTacos, NutBALLS, NutYummms, as well as Thai coconut NutBurgers, with ingredients ranging from sunflower seeds, to brown rice, cashews and more.

Despite making over $1 million last year, they are not yet profitable. With an investment, Johnston hopes to keep up with the demand of the NutBurgers by automating the production. This year, with the large amount of orders from retailers like Costco, revenue is expected to hit $10 million. She lost $13 million from someone who defrauded her.

Social reactions to Carla Lee’s NutBurgers’ appearance on “West Texas Investors Club”:

Giving it a taste test, Rooster McConaughey and Butch Gilliam seem to like it. Even Gil Prather seems to like the idea of “NutBoogers,” as he calls them. But, as Gilliam says, their opinion of the burger doesn’t weigh very heavily on how it will be received by the market overall. So they challenge her to sell the NutBurgers at a burger stand, but are quickly disappointed when the first customer leaves when told they’re not selling meat burgers.

One customer decides to give it a try, however, and it’s a winner. McConaughey and Gilliam then decide to kick it up a notch and invite their biker friends to give it a try. They all agree that it’s good, despite not being meat. Even kids, who Gilliam describes as the toughest and most honest food critics, like it. Johnston even has a heart-to-heart with Prather, who tells her that her dad would be proud.

Given the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the burgers, McConaughey and Gilliam see it as a real winner. After making some nut puns, they get down to business and question the purchasing of the equipment given that the co-packer won’t. They encourage her to roll up her sleeves and be forthright when she needs to be. Despite having some concerns, they offer $500,000 for 15 percent, which Johnston asks for a 10-time rate of return that, once the money is returned, half of it is given away to charities to help invest in the future of the world. They accept.

Would you try a NutBurger?