FreeLife
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| FreeLife International | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Key people | Ray Faltinsky Kevin Fournier |
| Products | Himalayan Goji Juice |
| Employees | 220 |
| Website | www.FreeLife.com |
FreeLife International is a multi-level marketing company established in 1995 by Ray Faltinsky and Kevin Fournier that supplies nutritional supplements. FreeLife is best known for promoting Himalayan Goji Juice, made from goji berries.
Contents |
[edit] Products
FreeLife’s product line initially consisted of nutritional supplements, weight loss products, shampoo and personal care products. FreeLife has since changed its product lines and now focuses on a juice made from wolfberry and sold under the product name Himalayan Goji Juice and a newer product named GoChi.[1]
FreeLife operates as an international multi-level marketing company where sale of a consumer products take place person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location. These products are marketed to customers by independent salespeople who are paid commissions on their sales and the sales of their downline. The company requires those marketing its products to follow certain guidelines set out by the company.[2]
[edit] History
In 1995, Co-Founders Ray Faltinsky and Kevin Fournier, along with a group of investors including Anson Beard of Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter, launched FreeLife International as a direct sales company due to Ray Faltinsky's prior research on that business model.[3] As FreeLife grew, it was listed in 2000 in Inc. 500's List of Fastest Growing Businesses.[4] FreeLife has since grown to include operations in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brunei, Canada, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Hong Kong, Macau, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines[5], Puerto Rico, Singapore, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin/St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand[6], Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States.
[edit] Earl Mindell and FreeLife
FreeLife's former spokesperson, Earl Mindell, has made several claims about the health benefits of the goji brand of wolfberry juice, including that it has anti-aging properties.[7]. Former spokesperson, Mindell's involvement with FreeLife was subject of a CBC hidden camera investigation in January 2007 [8], questioning the claimed anti-cancer properties of Goji juice and the validity of Mindell's PhD qualification.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Weaver, Clair.. "Why goji is more fad than fact.", Sunday Telegraph, June 17, 2007.
- ^ The FreeLife Way, FreeLife.com, retrieved March 12, 2008
- ^ Thesis on direct sales business model, Ray Faltinsky, 1992
- ^ The fastest growing private companies in America, Inc.com, for the year 2000, retrieved March 12, 2008
- ^ Asia Pulse. (October 11, 2004) US Juice firm takes a foothold in the Philippines.
- ^ Rungfapaisarn, Kwanchai. (September 16, 2006) The Nation Health drink in direct-marketing debut.
- ^ Oat, Brittany (July 14, 2006). Goji: Health Elixir or Pricey Juice?. ABC News. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ CBC's Hidden Camera Investigation on Goji Juice Claims
