Entrepreneurs: Juicero — Innovation for the Rich
by Miki Saxon
Have you heard about Juicero?
A Silicon Valley-style solution for eating healthier.
“Today over 90% of Americans fail to consume the recommended servings per day,” founder and CEO Doug Evans wrote in a Medium post to unveil Juicero. “We call this the Produce Gap, and though there are many causes for it — from how food is marketed and subsidized to where it’s distributed — one of the primary reasons people don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables is that they see it as inconvenient. … And that’s what Juicero is all about. We’ve made it our mission to help people attain optimal health by making it easier for them to consume fresh raw foods in the most convenient way possible.”
And it does for a mere $700, plus whatever each juice packet costs (one packet = one glass of juice).
Entrepreneurs love to talk about changing the world and some actually do make a difference, but this isn’t going to help those in need — it’s a product for the haves.
The goal is to bring the cost down to $200, plus packets, which still requires a considerable amount of disposable income.
Those involved are a who’s who in the Valley.
He had a lot of help though from some Silicon Valley greats who weighed in on the design, including Apple’s Jony Ive along and famed tech designer Yves Béhar. The years spent perfecting it have been supported by venture capital that’s approaching $100 million from top tier investors like Artis Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Thrive Capital and Campbell Soup Company, among others. The co-founder of smart thermostat Nest, Matt Rogers, is a Juicero investor and board member.
The ultimate juicer for the 1%, in other words, for themselves.
Talk about self-indulgent masquerading as public interest.
Maybe someday a model will emerge for the next 25%, but products like these will never change the real world or the health of the rest of us.
Image credit: Juicero
