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Former Sault resident appears on Dragons’ Den; gets financial backing for his beer

‘Dragon lady’ Minhas agrees to ‘Partake’ with Ted Fleming
20180320-Ted Fleming Partake beer Dragons Den photo supplied-01
Ted Fleming, former Sault resident and Partake Brewing founder/CEO. Photo supplied by Ted Fleming

With a thirst for a good non-alcoholic beer, Ted Fleming started brewing his own brand, entitled Partake, in 2013.

Now, the former Sault resident, after appearing on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, has won financial backing to promote his product and expand his company.     

Fleming, Partake founder and CEO, auditioned for Dragons’ Den in Toronto and made the cut, securing the opportunity to pitch Partake to the show’s formidable cast of six professional, highly successful entrepreneurs on its March 15 episode.

Dragons’ Den features Canadian entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to a panel of six big-league venture capitalists (known as ‘Dragons’) with the hope of securing business financing and partnerships. 

“When it came to pitch day I arrived at the CBC building at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday and was put into a room to wait with other companies doing their pitch,” Fleming told SooToday in a telephone interview.

“They said ‘you’ll be called when it’s your turn.’ It seemed like forever but it was only a couple of hours.” 

“They eventually called my name, they put my microphone on and I went over my pitch one or two last times with the producer, then the green light went on and that was my cue. Lights, camera, action,” Fleming chuckled.

Fleming then calmly bicycled on to the set with a cart full of Partake beer.

The six Dragons were waiting for him, each of them perched in their seats appearing very well-dressed, successful and aloof (a big part of the show’s ‘feel’).

“It was the first time I’d ever talked to any of them. You get one shot,” Fleming said.

“It is intimidating but I stayed focused on my pitch and delivered it the way I wanted to. I gave the key information about Partake and then after that I actually felt much more relaxed.”

“After the pitch you have really no control where the conversations lead and what antics the Dragons get up to, what they say to you and to each other.”

Fleming came across as calm, confident and all business while pitching Partake.

Reactions from the Dragons, after their initial frostiness, ranged from an ‘all-business polite’ to humour.

Dragon Michael Wekerle, creator of a large asset management company, made it clear he was not a fan of non-alcoholic beer, while fellow Dragon Arlene Dickinson, head of a large marketing firm, had an offstage technician fetch her a glass of wine, snubbing the beer in a tongue-in-cheek way.

“I never guessed they’d bring a glass of wine out,” Fleming laughed.

However, Fleming connected with Dragon Manjit Minhas, co-founder and co-owner of Minhas Breweries, Distillery and Wineries, the ninth largest brewery in the world. 

After Minhas took a few sips of Partake and engaged in good, constructive conversation with Fleming, he agreed to accept Minhas’ offer of $300,000 in venture capital to promote and grow the company and a 50 per cent share of Partake’s future profits moving forward.

“That was what I was after, to speak with someone like her, that was very important to me…the money itself is not really as consequential as having someone like her as a partner in the business,” Fleming said.

“It took me about 48 hours to decompress (after the show),” Fleming said, describing himself as ‘elated.’

“After that (the show) you do a real negotiation (signing documents, finalizing the deal).”

Born in Vancouver, Fleming, now a 40-year-old married father of three, moved to the Sault with his parents when he was six years old.

A Sir James Dunn Collegiate grad, Fleming said “my fondest memories of the Sault are about playing sports, playing hockey, cross country skiing and quite a lot of competitive squash.”

Fleming earned an engineering degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, then worked in water treatment and renewable energy in southern Ontario.

“I’ve considered myself a full time entrepreneur since 2010,” Fleming said, taking his first step into being his own boss by opening a solar panel-adorned storage facility in Wawa.

“I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease a decade ago, and I decided to give up alcohol, but I still found through playing sports and socializing I was in a lot of situations where I would have liked to have had a beer with someone, but as someone who no longer drank alcohol there weren’t a lot of good choices in the non-alcoholic beer category.”

In 2013, after doing his research, Fleming decided to start making and marketing his own non-alcoholic brew.

“I created an online non-alcoholic beer store drawing on some of the best products from Europe. We had a lot of customers asking for craft non-alcoholic beer and no one seemed to be making it at the time so that’s how Partake Brewing was born.”

“I looked at it through a new lens and went through a lot of trying and effort into making Partake what it is today, making a non-alcoholic beer that tastes good. I’m not sure our competition puts in the same effort, not focused on making a good non-alcoholic beer the way we are.”   

Toronto was Fleming’s home base for many years before relocating to Calgary two months ago.

There is currently no sit-in Partake Brewing tavern situated anywhere, but apart from the online presence, various brands of Partake beers are now for sale at approximately 40 Beer Store locations in Ontario (including the Sault, exclusively at the Beer Store’s Churchill Plaza location).

“We hope to be in the LCBO stores in the next few months and also perhaps in the grocery stores, maybe in Sobey’s and Metro stores across the country…we’re getting decent traction in bars and restaurants, selling the beer in cans,” Fleming added.

The Dragons’ Den experience, Fleming said, has made the prospect of appearing in front of other, larger business audiences not so daunting.

“For an entrepreneur to do Dragons’ Den, there’s nothing you can’t do,” Fleming chuckled.


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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