The pitch
What walked into the Den
Crumbs Patties, Pierre St. Rose’s gourmet take on the Jamaican-style patty, featured in season 20, episode 11, with roots in Scarborough and a shop in downtown Toronto.
Invited an investment of $175,000 to part with 20 percent, for an implied $875,000.
Our read
The Hub verdict
The ask reads as a scaling number for a food brand with a physical footprint: a mid-six-figure cheque against a fifth of the business, a price just under a million on a gourmet patty operation that already runs a downtown Toronto storefront and draws heavy local press.
Michele Romanow took it at 40 percent, double the equity offered, and refused to meet the counter in the low thirties. A single-location food brand asking for scaling money is a hard negotiation, because the cheque has to fund a second and a third site before the model has proved it travels, and she priced that risk into the stake. The Baldwin Street shop is open, with current contact details and coverage from Toronto Life, BlogTO, CTV and the Star.
Romanow doubled the equity to back a Baldwin Street patty shop
Worth knowing: Press coverage and a listed storefront confirm the shop is trading.
