Shark Bank Competitions for local artisan food producers take place in what once was an actual bank, Heinen’s new downtown Cleveland location. It opened in the spring in the former Cleveland Trust rotunda at East 9^th and Euclid.

It’s the 18th and newest Northeast Ohio store for twin brothers Jeff and Tom Heinen, heirs to the business their grandfather Joe opened in Shaker Heights in 1929. 

Swanky for a grocery store
Heinen’s Downtown has already become a popular lunch spot for downtown workers, with café tables, wine racks, display cases of prepared foods, and an enormous salad bar, all set on a polished marble tile floor. 

“Elegant,” is how Tonya Hairston describes it. “It’s very elegant which adds a nice touch to it, because it just puts you in a different mindset when you come to shop or eat.”   

Hairston works down the street at the new Cuyahoga County administrative headquarters. She walked in unaware there was a contest going on. 

“I stopped over with a couple of co-workers just to pick up a little bit of food and saw this. And I think it’s nice because you get to try something different.”   

Like free treats handed out by the Shark Bank contestants. 

A take-off on a popular reality series
Heinen’s Event Coordinator Ed Thompkins was looking for the perfect way to show off the new store when he thought about the popular reality TV series Shark Tank, where contestants pitch business ideas to potential investors.  

He thought why not a Shark Bank? 

“One of the things we thought of was, 'Well, there’s plenty of local products, artisan products being made in Northeast Ohio. And what a better way to kind of leverage these producers that celebrate Cleveland than in something that celebrates Cleveland itself, which is this beautiful rotunda.'”  

Today it’s swamped with visitors gazing up in awe at Cleveland Trust’s original ornate bronze balcony. 

Under it stand the four Shark Bank finalists. Heinen’s customers selected them in people’s choice balloting at preliminary events. 

Celebrity judges
Today, the hopefuls hand out samples and wait for celebrity chefs like Zach Bruell and Dante Bocuzzi to do the final judging. 

Bocuzzi’s also a loyal customer.

“Oh, I shop at Heinen’s, and I think my connection, even bigger connection, is that they carry my line of pasta sauces.” 

The chef says that helps his restaurants and catering business.

“People are taking a picture of me home. I’m in everyone’s refrigerator. It’s a great opportunity.”   

It’s the kind of opportunity Shark Bank contestants like Molly Smith dream about. “I sell Molly’s Crafted Small Batch Cocktail Mixes.”   

Farm to shaker
Smith launched her business just this year and says she sources all ingredients from local organic farms. 

“The farm to table movement has always been a passion of mine, so I like to know where my food comes from, and so it’s kind of the same thing with the cocktail mixes.” 

Jessica Zehel came from Parma to check out the new Heinen’s and Molly Smith’s wares. 

“The honey beet, the apple ginger and the summer crop. I think the honey beet is my favorite.”  

Smith enjoys the positive feedback. 

“I’m so grateful to be here in the first place, just to be able to compete. It gives me assurance that I’m on the right path and doing what I need to be doing.”   

Smart Cookies
A few steps away finalist Carol Bihn is handing out her Smart Cookies. They’re gluten-free. 

“I use a blend of rice flour and different starches to approximate the wheat-based cookie.”   

A nibbler smiles and nods. “You wouldn’t have even known this was gluten-free.”    

You would know right away, though, that there’s all kinds of booze in the jams at another finalist’s stand.

“The alcohol evaporates but the flavor stays.”  Her business card says she’s the Chief Jammer. 

“My name is Tracy Kline and I make Damn Good Jam. It’s not your grandma’s jam. I use tequila, rum, whiskey, wine, and I turn it into something that you can cook with.”   

Boozy preserves
Her peach tequila jam has a touch of Grand Marnier. “It’s great on ice cream or on salmon.”  

What got her started liquoring up preserves? 

”My mother-in-law came to live with me, and I decided I needed alcohol in my kitchen,” she jokes. 

“The reality is that I like to cook, and I like to make things for gifts, and so one year for Christmas I was giving out chocolate Cabernet wine jelly, and people started asking if they could buy it.” 

Kline’s jams sell out most Saturdays at the open-air Cleveland Bazaar near the West Side Market, and she’s grateful for a shot at getting them on Heinen’s shelves "because they are offering us a chance to show people how great our product is.

"To be a small person and not have to go through a buyer to get your product into a store, it’s huge. I can’t even explain how big it is.”   

 Maple syrup with a kick
“For Northeast Ohio,” says Nate Bissel, “if you’re in Heinen’s, they are known for quality, and so are we. So it fits well.”   

Bissell runs Bissell Maple Farm in Rock Creek. He makes bourbon-barrel aged maple syrup.

“And if you know anything about bourbon barrels, they are caramelized on the inside, so you have caramelized burnt oak sugars mixed with maple sugars, so we’re mixing maple and oak.” 

The boozy syrup is a hit.

“I can taste a little kick there. I like that,” says one sampler.

“Dude, this tastes really good,” exclaims another. 

And the winner of Heinen’s inaugural Shark Bank Competition is: Bissell Maple Farm’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Maple Syrup. 

Nate Bissell is thrilled and frankly relieved.

“To be honest I’m just sick of people asking me if I’m in Heinen’s.”    

He won four complementary demos and exclusive distribution in all Heinen’s stores. 

And Heinen’s Ed Thompkins says he’ll be the first of many winners. 

“Because there’s still plenty of those artisan producers, meat producers, cheese producers, all kinds of things. So I envision maybe every six months, there’s a Shark Bank, one being perishable and the other non-perishable. There are enough products to facilitate it.”