MonaVie
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Multi-level marketing |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah |
Key people | Dallin Larsen, Henry Marsh, Dell Brown, Randy Larsen, Amy Cowley, Mark Iscaro |
| Products | MonaVie Original Blend, MonaVie Active Blend, MonaVie Gel Packs, MonaVie Active Gel Packs |
| Website | MonaVie.com |
MonaVie (also referred to as Mona • Vie) is a limited liability company that manufactures and distributes a juice made from a blend of fruits (the most advertised of which is the açaí berry). MonaVie also markets a gel pack version of the juice. A bottle of MonaVie Original has a suggested retail price of $40.00 It is primarily sold via multi-level marketing which utilizes a binary plan. MonaVie also offers the option of bulk purchasing to increase profitability per item sold via retail sales.
MonaVie is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded by Dallin Larsen who graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. degree in Finance.
Ingredients
MonaVie contains the following ingredients listed from the most to least common: blend of açaí (freeze-dried powder and purée); 100% fruit juice, from concentrate (white grape, apple, acerola, purple grape, cranberry, passion fruit, apricot, prune, kiwifruit, blueberry, wolfberry, pomegranate, lychee, camu camu); fruit purée (pear, banana, bilberry) and preservatives. MonaVie Active adds d-glucosamine hydrochloride and esterified fatty acids to all of the previous ingredients.
Charity
The company founded and operates a charitable organization known as The MORE Project, which is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The company does not contribute a particular amount per bottle, or a percentage of sales, but rather funds 100% of the charity's administrative costs. [1][2]
Controversy
Many skeptics view the company as another 'glorified pyramid scheme', involving a $39 distributor fee and monthly order of at least 4 bottles of juice (approximately $130 before shipping and taxes) to qualify for commissions. However, MonaVie is not considered such under United States Federal Trade Commission laws, but is a legal form of business referred to as network or multi-level marketing.
Although amounts are not disclosed, açaí is listed as the leading ingredient on the nutrition facts label. Despite this claim that açaí is a feature of MonaVie's juice blend, the company states that the 18 other fruits were selected for their unique beneficial properties (e.g. camu camu has a high vitamin C content) and that focus on one fruit above others was avoided.[3] MonaVie's acai-based juices are marketed as a food, which restricts what health claims can legally be made. Foods sold in the United States are subject to FDA regulations of the wording of advertising and on packaging. [4]
On May 16, 2008, MonaVie was sued by Imagenetix, Inc. for $2.75 billion over trademark infringement concerning the ingredient Celadrin.[5] The lawsuit was dropped on May 20, 2008. [6] MonaVie also faces a lawsuit by Quixtar North America, an Amway sister company, filed as a counter suit against Monavie in March 2008.[5]
References
- ^ M.O.R.E. Project - Frequently asked questions, retrieved July 28, 2008
- ^ Sarah Paulk, "Industry with Heart: MonaVie", Direct Selling News, retrieved July 28, 2008
- ^ MonaVie Official Flash Website "Product: The Blend."
- ^ Terri Coles, "The berry with punch", Reuters, September 24, 2007
- ^ a b Laura Hancock, "Monavie Sued for 2.75B", Deseret News, May 16, 2008
- ^ "Trademark Suit Against MonaVie Dropped", May 20, 2008
Further reading
- Ferguson A. Superfruit: Antioxidant-rich acai berry is newest trendy ingredient, Gwinnett Daily Post, October 21, 2007.
- Fryer J. MonaVie and superjuices, worth the price?, KARE 11 News, July 21, 2008.
- Arango T. Sumner Redstone's anti-aging secret, CNN.com, September 4, 2007.
- Dokoupil T. A drink's purple reign, Newsweek, August 3, 2008.