Juice Plus

MLM companies try to take on the banner of continuing the long tradition of direct sales.  In my opinion, many are continuing the tradition of snake oil salesman. Lotions, potions and pills are the foundation of many of the top MLM scam companies.  These lotions, positions and pills seem to help with almost everything.  Just like the products that snake oil salesmen offered. My subscribers have requested that I take a look at the Juice Plus unique Franchise.  Here is what I have found.

Juice Plus Scam Claims

The Juice Plus business offers the ability to build a part-time income while making a difference in the lives of others. With minimal risk and unlimited opportunity, our unique Franchise business model allows you to seamlessly grow your business around your life.

Supported by solid clinical evidence and backed by health professionals, Juice Plus products are proven to help bridge the nutritional gap with nutrients from 30 fruits, vegetables, grains and berries.

We’ve borrowed the best concepts from a variety of businesses to build our successful unique Franchise business model.

Here is a video of how the unique Franchise is promoted.

Juice Plus Scam Reality

Juice Plus is owned by a company called National Safety Associates (NSA). The company was founded in 1970 by Jay Martin, a schoolteacher-turned-entrepreneur, who continues as the CEO. NSA initially sold home fire-protection equipment via door-to-door salespeople. In the late 1970s, they expanded into water filtration products. In 1986, they began using multi-level marketing, then expanding their product line to air filters and educational games for pre-schoolers. In 1993, they began selling the nutritional supplement Juice Plus, manufactured by Natural Alternatives International in San Marcos, California.

NSA had some legal troubles in 1993, as the United States Attorney General’s office followed up on complaints that the company was deceptively requiring new distributors to make large upfront purchases of air and water filters. Each of the 32,000 distributors in Florida purchased an average of $7,000 worth of water filters, and many of these distributors were unable to sell all of them. The company’s business in the United States decreased that year, requiring the layoff of dozens of employees.

Former professional athlete O. J. Simpson signed a multi-year six-figure contract with NSA in January 1994 and became an official celebrity endorser of Juice Plus. Simpson, who was tried and later acquitted for the June 12, 1994, murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, was videotaped in March 1994 telling 8,000 Juice Plus distributors at a NSA convention in Dallas, Texas, that the product had cured his arthritis, improved his golf game, and freed him from using anti-arthritic drugs. – Source wikipedia.org

I want to get something out of the way right from the start.  You do not get a franchise when you buy into Juice Plus.  They make it very clear where you actually stand on their application form.

“I understand that my relationship to Juice Plus is as an independent contractor, and that I am not authorized to bind Juice Plus or to incur any obligation on behalf of Juice Plus.” – Source Juice Plus Franchise Application

In my opinion, you are paying Juice Plus $50 to sell their products as a 100% commission sales person and building their brand for them. Why would you want to pay a company to sell their products for them and build their brand?  They should be paying you and training you for free.

They provide no information on how much the typical representative is making by selling these products for retail.  Almost anyone can become a representative and get discounts on the cost of their products. The only income information they provide is average income for people that have recruited other representatives.

Juice Plus claims “…more than 80 percent of Juice Plus product sales are to people who are not actively involved in the Juice Plus business.” I don’t believe them.

Here is why I don’t believe them.  In their compensation plan it says the following:

“A Note Regarding PVC Volume Requirements for the First Three Management Positions Compared with the Last Three: The volume requirements for the first three positions (Direct, Franchisee, and Sales Coordinator) are based on what is termed promotional PVC, rather than actual PVC. For example, the 500 PVC requirement for direct distributor can be met when a new distributor signs up for Juice Plus Orchard and Garden blends on the payment plan and gets five others to do the same. The actual PVC on the amounts paid on these orders during this first month is only 1/4 of the total (based on a four-month payment plan).” – Source Juice Plus Franchise Owners Manual

If personal consumption by distributors can be used to help quickly qualify for positions, why would new distributors NOT focus on getting other new distributors to do the same thing?

There are many health benefit claims that are made about Juice Plus products.  Juice Plus offers many medical studies to back up their claims.  I don’t believe their products are any more effective than other inexpensive multivitamins.

Taking a Juice Plus supplement may increase your vitamin and mineral intake.

However, there’s no evidence that Juice Plus is any better at this than a regular multivitamin.

Furthermore, taking supplements like these is no substitute for eating whole fruits and vegetables. – Source healthline.com

In my opinion, the next best thing to fruits and vegetables is worth little.  You need to eat whole fruits and vegetables to gain the benefits from them.

Taking a multivitamin as a nutritional insurance policy may seem like a good idea. But the truth is that there’s no proof that the pills provide any benefit for healthy people.

Many scientists have reached that same conclusion. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent group of national experts that advises the government, recently analyzed studies that included data for about 450,000 people. It found no clear evidence that multivitamins prevented cancer or heart disease, helped people live longer, or made them healthier in any way. – Source consumerreports.org

Here is the experience of one Reddit user with Juice Plus:

I should preface by saying that I have a BS in Nutritional Sciences, but am not (yet) a dietitian. I am not the most experienced nutrition professional out there, but I do have some solid educational background. Most importantly, I like facts and I don’t like bullshit. Let’s begin.

I recently received a call from a college acquaintance with whom I’ve barely spoken, which caught me off guard. She told me that she worked for a company that wanted to help more people consume fruits and vegetables by making them more available, and that they were always looking to hire new bright, young nutritionists.

Flattered though I was (I am easily flattered) I was immediately suspicious. A big red flag was that in the span of a 5 minute conversation, she never once mentioned the name of her employer- I had to specifically ask for it. She told me that she worked for Juice Plus but that “It would be easier for her to show me some videos about them rather than try to look it up myself.”

Naturally, I immediately googled the hell out of “Juice Plus”. Turns out, they’re a multi-level marketing company that operates in a similar fashion as Amway or the much-vilified Vector.

Not surprisingly, the Juice Plus website my friend directed me to had a set of videos explaining why they’re better than a “traditional” company and why they’re not a pyramid scheme. Watch them, if you have the time or interest. They are incredibly misleading, but sound VERY promising. It’s all very snake-oil salesman-y. The focus of their business is to sign more people up to their business, not to sell this product that is supposedly “amazing”.

I politely declined her offer to become a distributor/sales rep/bullshitter because MLM is not a very profitable venture for most people, but that’s not my area of expertise. I’m here to talk about NUTRITION.

Juice Plus sells pills and chewables that are powdered fruits and vegetables, under the guise that these count as daily servings of produce. If someone you know calls you and tries to sell you these products…

HERE IS WHY THEY ARE WRONG AND STUPID:

  • THEIR RESEARCH IS STUPID
    Beyond the “life-changing” testimonials that their professional bullshitters try to shove down your throat, one of the things Juice Plus brags about is the fact that there is so much research available to support the product. I, admittedly, have not read all of the research myself, but other reviews and sources document that nearly all of the research is funded by Juice Plus and rarely feature placebos, double-blinds, large sample sizes, etc. This is poor science at best, and intentionally misleading science in actuality.
  • THEIR PRODUCT IS STUPID
    For a product distilled from a blend of fruits and veggies and nothing else, it should be at least a little good for you, right? The answer is “not really”. The supplements contain very few vitamins (only A, C, E and folate) and are much more concerned about their phytochemicals and antioxidants, which they use as buzzwords to imply nutritional value. I mean, shit, the ingredients section of their site doesn’t even tell you what is in each pill. You’d be much better off taking a multivitamin as a supplement if you’re concerned about your dietary intake. Additionally, these pills provide no calories. A BIG benefit of eating fruits and vegetables is that you’re eating foods dense in nutrients and low in calories, which is associated with healthier diets. Juice Plus may give you some nutrients, but you’re on your own to eat a nutritionally-balanced diet after that – it doesn’t really help your health at all. The lack of energy provided matters because…
  • THEIR PRICING IS (INSANELY) STUPID
    Here is why I consider Juice Plus a scam instead of an ill-conceived, but mostly harmless, supplement: their prices are insane. For the meager nutrient content, a SINGLE container of their cheapest supplement is $100. If you order one bag of each “blend” of chewable, it runs you $280. Compare this to a similarly-sized (and much more complete) multivitamin which can be purchased at your friendly neighborhood grocery story for $30-40. But why stop there? If they can sell you this shit, they’re gonna try to sell you more. They also sell planters that are “the future” of gardening (called “Tower Gardens”) at even more ridiculous rates!

Cost

A Juice Plus Independent Representative must complete an application and pay a $50.00 application fee .  There is a $50 annual renewal fee. If you wish to build a successful retailing business expect to spend personal time and effort and to incur additional expenses for such items as product samples, sales aids, business forms, shipping costs, travel and telephone expenses.

Products

Click Here for their 2017 price list.

Premium Trio Package Juice Plus Capsules & Vineyard

The Starter Package Juice Plus Capsules

Juice Plus Vineyard

Juice Plus Vineyard Blend Soft Chews

Juice Plus OMEGA Blend Capsules

Juice Plus New Soft Chews

Premium Trio Package Juice Plus Chews

Juice Plus Complete (60 Servings)

Juice Plus Complete Single Servings (60 servings)

Juice Plus Complete Nutrition Bar (30 or 60 servings)

JP Chewable Samples

Basic Juice Plus Tower Garden Kit

Tower Garden Extension Kit

Support Cage

Bulk Size Tower Tonic

TG Family Garden

TG Grow Lights

Community Garden by Tower Garden

Compensation Plan

I was unable to find a detailed compensation plan available on their website without becoming a representative.

To qualify to earn a Sales Commission in a given month you must have at least $90 in Personal PVC that month.

Ranks:

Franchisee (VF)

6000 in total accumulated PVC OR 2000 in PVC your first 60 days
500 in “Personal PVC” (Purchase Volume Credit in your number) in qualifying month

Sales Coordinator (SC)

12,000 in total accumulated PVC
500 in “Personal PVC” (Purchase Volume Credit in your number) in qualifying month
3 “lines” with a Direct Distributor (or higher) in each

Senior Sales Coordinator  (SSC)

9,000 in total “payline” PVC during any one month
3 “lines” with a Franchisee (or higher) in each
2 “lines” in Performance Bonus
no more than 2/3 of your qualifying PVC from 1 “line”

Qualifying National Marketing Director (QNMD)

20,000 in total accumulated “payline” PVC during any one month
4 “lines” with a Franchise (or higher) in each
4 “lines” in Performance Bonus
3 of 4 “lines” must have a Sales Coordinator
2 of 3 Sales Coordinator “lines” must be Promote Out Bonus Qualified
no more than 2/3 of your qualifying PVC from 1 “line”

National Marketing Director (NMD)

33,000 in total “payline” PVC during any one month
5 “lines” with a Sales Coordinator (or higher) in each
5 “lines” in Performance Bonus
3 “lines” in Promote-Out Bonus
no more than 2/3 of your qualifying PVC from 1 “line”

** SSC, QNMD, & NMD promotions are subject to approval by The Juice Plus Company (Canada) Inc.
** For Fast Track team building incentives, please see the Team Building Bonus Flyer
Note: No household members can be utilized to meet structure requirements.

Recruiting is required to advance up the ranks of the Juice Plus compensation plan. You can be paid commissions 5 levels deep in your downline depending on your rank.

Income Disclosure

Juice Plus makes no guarantees or assurances whatsoever regarding any sales success, income or loss which may result from my activities as a Juice Plus Independent Representative.

Refund Policy

They offer an unconditional, 100% money-back guarantee on your last shipment that was received in the last six months.

Juice Plus Scam Conclusion

In my opinion, Juice Plus is another MLM recruiting scam that incentivises distributors to self consume the products to achieve a rank in the compensation plan and recruit other representatives to do the same. I don’t believe their health benefit claims.  They do not share what representatives are making on average selling the products at retail. You go into this business opportunity blind. Why would you want to pay a company to sell their products for them and build their brand?  They should be paying you and training you for free. NSA has had legal problems before with loading up distributors with products that they could not sell. I would not invest my time and money in a Juice Plus unique Franchise.