For small businesses, the highs can be really high, but the lows can be crushing.
That’s the case for one family-owned company that was launched less than six years ago. At the beginning, there were a lot of highs. Unfortunately, crashing lows followed even after a last-ditch effort to stay afloat by going on Shark Tank.
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Joyebells was founded on October 1st, 2019, by Joye Berry-Moore. The company sells “award-winning peach, sweet potato, and pumpkin pies”, according to the website description.
The recipes for Joyebells pies have been “passed down 6 generations with LOVE” by Berry-Moore’s great-grandmothers, and are offered in Apple Lattice, Peach, Pumpkin, and Sweet Potato.
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The story behind Joyebells’ founder, Joye Berry-Moore, is unique and inspiring. Berry-Moore explains, “I ran away from home at 14 years of age and remained homeless until age 17 years old until the end of my senior year of high school. I lived in abandoned houses and ate out of dumpsters in South Dallas, Texas.”
Berry-Moore decided to open her own business after her nonprofit job was eliminated in May 2019, and it didn’t take long to launch Joyebells just five months later.
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Joyebells got a lot of media attention and was featured on The Today Show, and it was featured in several magazines.
Most recently, Berry-Moore went to Shark Tank in February 2025 in hopes that billionaire investors would back her company with funding. While Joyebells was praised for the quality of its pies, the investors ultimately decided not to invest in Joyebells.
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A major bump in the road for Joyebells happened back in 2023. Due to a manufacturing issue, unripe peaches were used in over 300,000 peach pies, which had to be pulled from shelves. Due to this issue, Joyebells lost its partnership with Sam’s Club, and all of its shelf-stable pies were pulled from shelves.
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After Joyebells lost its Sam’s Club partnership, it only sold pies through QVC during 2024. This led to a significant decline in sales, which likely paved the way for the company’s eventual bankruptcy filing (more on that next).
Before the unfortunate turn of events, Joyebells had planned to launch products at certain Kroger, Schnucks, and Costco locations.
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After debuting on Shark Tank in February 2025, things went downhill quickly. Joyebells’ LLC status with the State Corporation Commission was listed as “voluntarily cancelled” as of June 2, 2025.
Just last week, the news hit that Joyebells has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This was just following their main lender’s pending lawsuit against Joyebells for defaulting on a $350,000 loan.
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Joyebells took out a $350,000 loan with Locus Bank in May 2023. The loan had a maturity date of May 11, 2025, and at that point the loan hadn’t been paid off.
Berry-Moore and her husband also filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, saying their debt is primarily business-related and includes credit card debt. The total owed is around $1.27 million, with a majority of that being the $350k unpaid bank loan.
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It’s not just credit card debt and the major loan haunting Joyebells. According to court filings, Berry-Moore and her husband owe $144,000 to the IRS, which means there are unpaid taxes mixed in with all of the other financial woes.
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As of now, it’s unclear if Joyebells is still operational. The website is still up, but all the pies available for online ordering show as sold out. According to news outlets, reporters have attempted to call Joyebells’ number, but it goes straight to voicemail, and messages left on Berry-Moore’s personal number haven’t been returned.
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According to United States Courts, Chapter 11 bankruptcy “provides for reorganization, usually involving a corporation or partnership.”
This means that there might be hope for the company if enough reorganization can occur to help repay its debts.
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Things don’t look good financially for the owners of Joyebells, both personally and for their business. It’s a shame to see businesses that were once thriving taking these big hits.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy can last for months to years, so we’ll have to keep our eye on the case and see what happens for this family-owned business.
Have you ever opened a small business, or known someone who has? Share your experiences in the comments!
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