Christie Buck

Post-pitch story

Christie Buck pitched the fanciest chips The Pitch has ever seen. Christie's Chips are premium, chef-crafted potato chips made to be served with caviar and champagne, not dropped into a lunchbox. Season 12, Episode 3 aired in August 2024, with Buck looking for about $400,000. The panel had a problem: consumer packaged goods sit outside most of their funds' focus. Even so, Elizabeth Yin and Ben Taft both said they'd invest personally. According to The Pitch's own end-of-2024 update, they followed through. Yin wired $10,000 after due diligence, Taft confirmed his check, and The Pitch Fund put in $50,000. Another $140,000 came from listeners and fund investors after the episode aired, for a total of about $200,000. The bigger news was on the shelf. By December 2024, Christie's Chips had launched at Whole Foods Market in 65 stores across Southern California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona. The show also reported fresh purchase orders through a national distributor for Sprouts. For a small food brand, getting into stores is half the battle and the reorders are the other half. Christie's Chips appears to be winning the first half and working on the second. It's a good reminder that a "no" from a fund isn't always a no from the people behind it.