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Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

bloomberg.com

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Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#61

Post by proaralyst »

wyldfire wrote: post #51
shimon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but the proprietary tech in the machine was supposed to be a form of defensible advantage for this business. If the product value comes entirely from chopping and delivering vegetables in a bag, it wouldn't be hard for others to replicate.

Hello, darkness my old friend. The analogies to Keurig won't stop here -- next up, DRM juice packs.

Sounds like they already have that: the machine reads QR codes and compares them to an online service for expiry/recall. Not many steps to validity.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#62

Post by kesselvon »

DoctorNick wrote: post #16
untog wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but they're also out $400 on every customer. And those customers can now very easily switch to a different juice provider without losing any "investment" they made in hardware. I can't find any info on their site about subscription pricing (always a red flag) but this whole thing seems absurdly stupid. I'd be amazed if they managed to scale this in such a way that shipping refrigerated juice to individual custom…

The juice bags are DRM'd (yes, seriously): http://boingboing.net/2017/03/15/a-juicer-that-wont-make-jui...

can they DRM your hands?

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#63

Post by makomk »

tdeck wrote: post #34

I don't understand this product at all. If you're willing to buy a pack of prepared juice, why not just buy a bottle of juice instead?

Yeah, as far as I could tell this is more expensive, less convenient, and harder to obtain than juice bottles, takes up more space, and the consumables have about the same shelf life or shorter. Bizarre product. (Also, since it requires an internet connection to check if the juice packs are valid, if the internet goes down and you decide that's a good time to take a juice break...)

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#67

Post by Pigo »

kesselvon wrote: post #41
wyldfire wrote: post #10

> Juicero declined to comment. A person close to the company said Juicero is aware the packs can be squeezed by hand but that most people would prefer to use the machine because the process is more consistent and less messy. "We kinda didn't think about this much because the real money is in the packets anyways. This stuff is way better than ink cartridges."

Why not just sell the packets. $5-8 dollars for a juice pack is already bonkers

As a daily veggie shake juicer, I'd be interested in packs that could cut down on the time I spend each morning cutting stuff up, if cost effective. But I get no satisfaction from status symbols, anymore than I care that my household appliance barely found a reason to connect to my wifi.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#68

Post by nommm-nommm »

wyldfire wrote: post #51
shimon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but the proprietary tech in the machine was supposed to be a form of defensible advantage for this business. If the product value comes entirely from chopping and delivering vegetables in a bag, it wouldn't be hard for others to replicate.

Hello, darkness my old friend. The analogies to Keurig won't stop here -- next up, DRM juice packs.

Already done.

>The device also reads a QR code printed on the back of each produce pack and checks the source against an online database to ensure the contents haven’t expired or been recalled, the person said.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#69

Post by kilroy123 »

zilchers wrote: post #42
grabcocque wrote: post #6

$120m from investors none of whom were aware you don't need a $400 machine to squeeze the juice from fruit? How do people with so little sense get so much money?

I'm not bothered by the fact that these guys got investment, it's an interesting idea and could have been a great kickstarter. But, $120 mil is a staggering amount for a company like this that should have relatively small startup costs.

Well, it probably cost a ton of money to convince people they need to spend $400 on a machine to squeezes the juice out of expensive packets.
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