MonaVie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MonaVie | |
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| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Key people | Dallin Larsen, Henry Marsh, Dell Brown, Randy Larsen, Amy Cowley |
| Industry | Multi-level marketing |
| Products | MonaVie Original Blend, MonaVie Active Blend, MonaVie Gel Packs, MonaVie Active Gel Packs |
| Net income | 800 Million[citation needed] |
| 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.
The company is actively involved with a charitable organization, The MORE Project which operates in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil[1]. In January 2008, MonaVie Founder and President Dallin Larsen told Direct Selling News, “Every dollar raised goes directly to the MORE Project. Most charities give 50 cents of every dollar, but we want to be different. We are committing ourselves to run this charity in the most honorable and pristine way possible. We’ve agreed to have the charity audited every year, because we are trying to be as transparent as possible.”[2]
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.
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[edit] Ingredients
MonaVie contains the following ingredients listed from the most to least common: blend of açaí (freeze-dried powder and puree); 100% fruit juice, not from concentrate (white grape, nashi pear, acerola, purple grape, cranberry, passion fruit, apricot, prune, kiwifruit, blueberry, wolfberry, pomegranate, lychee, camu camu); fruit puree (pear, banana, bilberry)and preservatives. MonaVie Active adds d-glucosamine hydrochloride and esterified fatty acids to all of the previous ingredients.
MonaVie does not contain emulsifiers such as xanthan gum.
[edit] MonaVie in the News
MonaVie has gained significant media coverage in its short lifespan.
Television: MTV Cribs[3] Rachael Ray [4]
Magazines: Elements Living [5] Fortune[6]
Internet: www.reuters.com[7]
Newspapers: Gwinnett Daily Post[8] Deseret Morning News [9]
[edit] Controversy
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008) |
Many skeptics view the company as another 'glorified pyramid scheme'. This is due to the $39 distributor fee and the monthly order of at least 4 bottles of juice (approximately $130 before shipping and taxes) in order to qualify for commissions. However, proponents point out that income does not depend on commissions earned by enrolling new members, nor does it rely solely on sales within the network, as MonaVie encourages personal retail sales[citation needed].
A study conducted to ascertain potential antioxidant benefits associated with two doses of MonaVie contains the following disclaimer: 'This study was conducted in a relatively small number of healthy adults. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed before these results can be generalized to the population-at-large.'[10]
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.[11]
On May 16, 2008, MonaVie was sued by Imagenetix, Inc. for $2.75 billion over trademark infringement concerning the ingredient Celadrin.[12] However, this lawsuit was dropped on May 20, 2008. [13] MonaVie also faces a lawsuit by Quixtar North America, an Amway sister company, filed as a countersuit against Monavie in March 2008.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ M.O.R.E. Project Official website
- ^ Direct Selling News
- ^ Cribs Extra: Brian Deegan | Video | MTV Cribs Extras (Ep. 1508) | MTV
- ^ Rachael Ray Show "Soap" Dish with Lara Spencer
- ^ Elements Living Magazine - All Blog Entries
- ^ Sumner Redstone's anti-aging secret - Aug. 24, 2007
- ^ The berry with punch | Health & Fitness | Reuters
- ^ Denied:1up! Software
- ^ Deseret Morning News | Utah athletes dominate the 24 Hours of Moab endurance race
- ^ "Effects of MonaVie Active on Antioxidant Capacity in Humans." (PDF)
- ^ MonaVie Official Flash Website "Product: The Blend."
- ^ Monavie Sued for 2.75B, Deseret News
- ^ Trademark Suit Against MonaVie Dropped
- ^ Monavie Sued for 2.75B, Deseret News
