First Saturday Lime – Insect Repellent

Jana McDaniel and Jessica Jacobs are sisters who, along with Jana’s husband Zac, pitch the Sharks on First Saturday Lime, an all natural insect repellent. Jana and Jessica grew up on a farm and their father had a lime business too. They always knew lime was a good insect repellent. It dries out the insects’ carcass and kills them. Smart bugs stay away.

Jana owns a small restaurant and she didn’t want to have expensive, chemical-laden pest control products in her place. She’s also a mom who wanted safe, chemical free product for her home that would be safe for her kids and pets. That got her thinking about lime, but lime can irritate skin, so she and Jessica found a chemist to help them develop a “safe” lime based product.

What they ended up with is a patented, insoluble lime that doesn’t react with moisture, so it won’t burn skin. It has many uses: insect repellent, sanitizing chicken coops, preventing the growth of algae and preventing mosquito breeding water. They call the product First Saturday Lime to remind customers to apply it monthly on the first Saturday of each month.

Incidentally, the frog on the logo is named Ricardo, after their father, Richard. When they first started out in 2017, a little frog would visit their warehouse every night. They decided to make him the company mascot! You can buy the product on Amazon and on the company website.

My Take on First Saturday Lime

I remember my dad ringing his vegetable garden with lime when I was a kid. He told me it kept bugs out. He also told me never to touch it. I didn’t. When we got a dog, he stopped gardening and built a deck where his vegetable garden was. I’m not sure if he was protecting the dog or he was sick of gardening!

This is a smart product. Anytime you can replace nasty chemicals with something all-natural, I’m all for it.

Will Sharks Like the Lime?

I see two main objections here. They’re valuing the company at a million bucks, which may or may not be correct. The first objection is the bulkiness of the product. It’s a 20 pound bag and that takes up a lot of shelf space. The other objection is the education curve for the public. If they can overcome these two objections, they may get a deal.

This needs to be in the Tractor Supplies and Home Depots of the world. Back in season 6, Mark, Kevin and Robert invested in Pit Moss, a peat moss substitute. That’s a product in the same space as First Saturday Lime, so there is a precedent here. If Jana, Jess and Zac can answer all the Sharks’ questions, they may get an offer..