Core a banana!

Once upon a time back in the fifties, The Honeymooners Ralph Kramden tried to "core a apple" on television. It didn't go well. But when Basking Ridges Renee Heath and her business partner, Bechara Jaoudeh from Lebanon pitched "Banana Loca" an item that can core a banana on "Shark Tank", they ended up getting a deal from both Marc Cuban and Kevin O Leary.

Photo Courtesy of Renee Heath

Listen to the interview here:

Photo Courtesy of Renee Heath

Renee, was a guest on my New Jersey 101.5:

Explain what "Banana Loca" is?

"Banana Loca is an innovative kitchen gadget that allows you to core a banana while still in its peel and fill the core center with whatever filling you want: jams and jellies, honey, yogurt, peanut butter, Nutella, maybe if you're feeling fancy Fluff"

Photo Courtesy of Renee Heath

Perhaps a little vodka or rum?

"Actually," says Renee "on our website we have the adult version for every recipe that adds a little bit of vodka or rum or fireball whiskey so we like to booze it up too"

Banana Loca came to be as Renee explains:

"When Jaoudeh was growing up in Lebanon, the country not New Jersey, his mom used to give him Nutella and bananas on pita bread as a kid as a mean and a snack. He was trying to cut some weight in the new year and thinking I wish I could skip the carbs and just eat the banana with Nutella but it's so slippery when you try to slice bananas and try to put Nutella or peanut butter on them and then the light bulb moment happened"

Getting on Shark Tank wasn't easy as Renee explains back in May of 2019 they stood in line at 2am at the Javitz Center for hours and hours at an open casting call just to get in front of the producers for just 60 seconds to make an impression"

What was it like presenting to the panel?

"It was really intense," says Renee 'but it was fun because my husband was there with me, he wore the Banana Loca costume, so it was nice having him there to give me that extra bit of confidence'

"But to be honest, we were just trying to have fun with it. Bananas are inherently funny. They're in the shape of a smile so we just remember although this is business and we take it seriously, to have a little fun with it. "

Photo Courtesy of Renee Heath

To get your Banana Loca click here

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

You can now listen to Steve Trevelise — On Demand! Discover more about New Jersey’s personalities and what makes the Garden State interesting . Download the Steve Trevelise show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now:

LOOK: Food history from the year you were born

From product innovations to major recalls, Stacker researched what happened in food history every year since 1921, according to news and government sources.

Every NJ pizza joint Barstool's Dave Portnoy has reviewed

Dave Portnoy, commonly known as El Presidente, is the founder of Barstool Sports. Somewhere along the way, he decided to start reviewing local pizzerias, and the concept took off. Here is every New Jersey pizzeria Dave has stopped in, along with the score he gave them.