juice
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Juicero was a San Francisco-based startup that sold a $400 (later $700, cut to $400) Internet-connected juice press designed to squeeze its proprietary Produce Packs into cold-pressed juice. Founded by Doug Evans with CEO Jeff Dunn, it pitched itself as changing how people consumed fresh, organic food, raising about $120 million from investors including Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins. In April 2017 Bloomberg revealed customers could get the same result by squeezing the packs with their bare hands, making the company a symbol of Silicon Valley being out of touch. On September 1, 2017 Juicero announced it was suspending sales immediately and offered Press refunds for 90 days.
02 / juice FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Juicero's core problem was that its $400 machine offered no real advantage over human hands: Bloomberg's April 2017 revelation that Produce Packs could be squeezed by hand destroyed the product's raison d'être. Founder Doug Evans's marketing — 'Not all juice is equal. How do you measure life force? How do you measure chi?' — made the company a laughing stock. The business could not lower the price toward $200 as planned, and determined the infrastructure for cheaper sourcing, manufacturing and distribution was 'something we cannot achieve on our own as a standalone business.'
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Operations ended
Juicero (SF $400 connected juicer / Produce Packs; aka the museum 'juice' row with 2017 TechCrunch RIP Crunch Report) announced it was suspending sale of the Juicero Press and Produce Packs immediately, offering Press refunds for 90 days, and focusing on finding an acquirer after failing to lower prices as a standalone business.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In April 2017 Bloomberg revealed the Produce Packs could be squeezed by hand with the same result, sparking widespread ridicule of the $400 machine.
- 02
In January 2017 the company had already cut the price from $700 to $400, but could not get toward the planned $200 price point.
- 03
On September 1, 2017 Juicero announced it was suspending sales of the Juicero Press and Produce Packs immediately and would focus on finding an acquirer; it offered Press refunds until December 1.