A Manchester-based sausage entrepreneur has failed to win backing after appearing on Dragons' Den.
Delight Mapasure took her southern African sausage business K's Wors on the hit BBC One show on Thursday night to pitch for investment.
Introducing her range of products made with authentic South African ingredients that include the boerewors, she said: "The English love sausages. They love a great banger and this is enjoyed widely in southern Africa.
"So I thought I could create an amazing fusion of two different cultures in an amazing product."
Despite the Dragons praising Ms Mapasure for the product's taste, Deborah Meaden criticised the packaging, also claiming the product had been lost in translation and was a "South African Cumberland sausage".
Touker Suleyman grilled the entrepreneur on her firm's path to profitability, with Ms Mapasure telling him the revenue target for the next 12 months was £200,000 - with a gross profit of £76,000 and net of £20,000.
With Ms Mapasure not currently taking a salary, Mr Suleyman concluded that if she did, the business would lose money.
Sara Davies told Ms Mapasure: "There's nothing you've said that makes me think 'I can't let this one go, this is going to be a big money maker'."
Speaking after the programme aired on BBC, Ms Mapasure, who left the Den without investment, said: "I suspected that my chances of success in Dragon’s Den were miniscule the moment I realised that two of the dragons were vegetarian, one was a ‘sausage detractor’ and one had a prior sausage producer commitment.
"Sometimes things are just not meant to be and that’s the bottom line.
"For someone like me who has been through what I have been, seen what I have seen and has been historically told that my vision was little more than a frivolous hobby and that women like me were better off at home cleaning and raising children, a very courteous 'no thank you' from Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Tej Lalvani and Sara Davies was absolutely fine with me."
Ms Mapasure values her business at "just over £2m" - and reported a fivefold rise in sales in the last 12 months.
Its "significant" nationwide reach includes Ocado, Costco and a network of delis, farm shops and garden centres.
On Friday, K's Wors will launch an exclusive Ocado-commissioned pork boerewors.
Ms Mapasure added: "Costco is a pivotal business that didn’t happen overnight and we’ve had to work tirelessly over a number of months to prove that our recipes matched their ambitions.
"Costco simply aren’t interested in accommodating any quick fix or short-term trends, opting instead for a smaller number of trusted partners with whom they can forge meaningful long-term relationships.
"For us, this alliance not only significantly expands our end-customer reach but enables us to work with a retailer with proud food service and hospitality ties."
