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Dragons’ Den: How to buy Potion Paris perfume, Nana’s Chutneys, seed kits and the rowing bike
We also saw a strange new RoadRower exercise machine, which polarised the panel
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After a pretty gnarly episode last week, the temperature appeared to simmer down slightly in tonight’s fix of Dragons’ Den. While the dragons still gave the entrepreneurs a grilling, it wasn’t as excruciatingly painful as the one seen in episode two.
So far this series, we’ve seen everything from a pill case startup and a skincare brand for men of colour to a plus-size clothing brand and a friend and family money-lending service. Although the latter got chewed up in the den, the founder still successfully scored investment.
But the claws were out tonight amongst the panel, as Sara Davies was locked out of a deal for a luxury fragrance brand, and the dragons found themselves divided on whether a new outdoors exercise machine was a cool bit of tech or something out of Frankenstein’s workshop.
From an eco-friendly seed pod to authentic Indian chutneys that the dragons all loved, here’s where you can buy the products seen in episode three of the latest series of Dragons’ Den.
Grow Sow Simple seedcell: £14.99, Growsowsimple.com
Just when it seemed like everyone was about to deliver an “I’m out” to Dan Robson and his Newcastle upon Tyne-based eco-friendly gardening kit business, Sara Davies pounced on the opportunity to come on board. Launched in 2015, Grow Sow Simple creates and sells biodegradable seed kits that make growing your own veg more accessible.
The flagship product is the seedcell, which is essentially a bio-degradable pod with multiple seeds inside. You water the soil, plant a seedcell pod and nurture it as it grows, and it leaves zero waste. There is a variety of different seedcells, depending on the veg you’d like to grow, including an allotment garden mix (cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbage), pizza topper (bell pepper, moneymaker tomato, basil and rocket), a chilli selection (cayenne, cyklon, jalapeño and habanero) and more. They all cost £14.99.
Grow Sow Simple also sells all-in-one microgrows, which are self-watering wicking systems that allow you to grow microgreens without over or under watering (from £9.99, Growsowsimple.com) and 3D puzzle garden sets for kids (£14.99, Growsowsimple.com). The company also sells its products on Amazon, with one single seedcell costing 99p.
Read more: Best plant subscription services
Potion Paris collection set: £120, Potionparis.com
It was a feisty two versus one battle featuring Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett in the red corner, who teamed up against Sara Davies in the blue, to get in on Omar Mian’s Middle Eastern-inspired luxury fragrance and lifestyle business. But, ultimately, the Jones/Bartlett combo won out, seeing the sweet-smelling Potion Paris gain investment from both dragons.
Launched in 2019, Potion Paris mainly sells refillable fragrances in opulent bottles, as well as scented candles. The core product is the collection set. While the flagship Potion Paris collection set usually costs an eye-watering £120, you can get a sample set of seven 2ml bottles for significantly less (was £35, now £25, Potionparis.com). It also comes with a complimentary £20 gift voucher.
Both the collection set and the sample discovery set come with seven fragrances, including peony and nutmeg addiction; vanilla and musk creation; jasmine and patchouli deception; white flower and patchouli devotion; amber, praline and wood seduction; precious oud and oriental sensation; and rose, peony and wood temptation.
Read more: Best perfumes for women
Nana’s Chutneys: From £6.50, Nanaschutneys.com
Mother and son duo Vandana and Kunal Nanavati have big ambitions to transform their homemade authentic Indian chutneys business into a thriving household name, but despite receiving universal praise for their product, Nana’s Chutneys were ultimately too small of a proposition for any of the dragons to invest. They did, however, win over Deborah Meaden as a fan.
Nana’s Chutneys launched in 2019 and started out by selling its vegan and gluten-free chutneys at farmers’ markets. The company usually sells four different chutneys, including garam garlic; mango; chilli and chopped coriander; and sweet date, but the chilli one is currently out of stock.
Three of them have won Great Taste awards, and they each cost £6.50. You can also buy all three for £15.99. In celebration of Dragons’ Den, Nana’s Chutneys is giving customers 10 per cent off with the code ‘DRAGON10’.
RoadRower exercise machine: From £5,000, Roadrower.com
Rupert Cattell’s RoadRower – an exercise machine that puts rowing on a bike – was a polarising product in the den. Bartlett and Davies both thought the rowcycle was cool, but the rest thought it was like something that had been carted out of “Frankenstein’s workshop”, in Touker Suleyman’s words. In the end, the price point of the high-tech product and the wrong market meant Cattell left the den empty-handed.
The RoadRower is a rowing bike that exercises your whole body, instead of just your legs. It hasn’t yet launched, but it’s available to pre-order now and the company expects the machine to ship in March 2023. There are two models available to buy – one with an electric motor and one without. The eRoadRower costs an eye-watering £6,000, while the original RoadRower isn’t much cheaper, at £5,000. If you put down a £1,000 deposit today, you’ll get a RoadRower with your name and the serial number engraved on the side.
Intriguingly, the company is hosting a RoadRower race in October this year. It will start in Boston, USA, and finish in Philadelphia – a distance of 350 miles.
Read more: Best rowing machines for building muscle and boosting fitness
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