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Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

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81–90 of 209 posts

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#81

That looks like a waste nightmare. > The only element not recyclable by municipal methods are the Packs themselves > Request a prepaid shipping label from by clicking the “Get Started” button below. We will then collect the Packs... https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/juicero

I think this waste/recycling thing is more of a SV/HN concern. Keurig tried to introduce a recyclable pod, called the Vue when their previous patent expired for k-cups. Seems to be a massive failure. Also HelloFresh and Blue Apron seem to get brought up a lot here for being hard to recycle and generaring a lot of trash, dozens of people I know have used these services and not one has mentioned the trash issue.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#82

That looks like a waste nightmare. > The only element not recyclable by municipal methods are the Packs themselves > Request a prepaid shipping label from by clicking the “Get Started” button below. We will then collect the Packs... https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/juicero

I think this waste/recycling thing is more of a SV/HN concern. Keurig tried to introduce a recyclable pod, called the Vue when their previous patent expired for k-cups. Seems to be a massive failure. Also HelloFresh and Blue Apron seem to get brought up a lot here for being hard to recycle and generaring a lot of trash, dozens of people I know have used these services and not one has mentioned the trash issue.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#83

That looks like a waste nightmare. > The only element not recyclable by municipal methods are the Packs themselves > Request a prepaid shipping label from by clicking the “Get Started” button below. We will then collect the Packs... https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/brigades/juicero

I think this waste/recycling thing is more of a SV/HN concern. Keurig tried to introduce a recyclable pod, called the Vue when their previous patent expired for k-cups. Seems to be a massive failure. Also HelloFresh and Blue Apron seem to get brought up a lot here for being hard to recycle and generaring a lot of trash, dozens of people I know have used these services and not one has mentioned the trash issue.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#84
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I really hate what those machines have done to coffee. It's difficult to explain to people at work, family, and friends how they paid a premium to be overcharged and produce extra waste without coming off like a jerk. I miss getting up from my machine and filling my mug with a regular coffee pot.

They do have one nice advantage over the office or home coffee pot, forgetful people and no warming surface. It does prevent some fires because you have people who forget the basic things.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#85
post #5

"Two investors in Juicero were surprised to learn the startup’s juice packs could be squeezed by hand without using its high-tech machine." This sounds almost comical...

I don't see why this matters at all -- the disposable juice packs are what extract money from the consumer. It's the razor / replacement blade or printer / ink model. If someone finds out that they really only need the blades, ink, or juice packs, it's no big deal. The problem for the manufacturer comes when consumers figure out that they can use knock-off blades, generic ink, or 3rd party juice packs.

The problem is that they raised A LOT of VC money and it was supposed to be tech startup that creates a network effect and dominate the market.

Gillette model worked because creating that infrastructure back then had a huge barrier to entry. You had to get a factory to produce the blades, etc.

Compare that to juice mix delivery service in 2017. There are tons of organic juice stores around, and there are tons of delivery services like uber/caviar/doordash. These juiceries can take advantage of the distribution startups to deliver their juice and make money if they wanted.

Basically it matters because you need to take "competition" into consideration. It's an entirely different game than razor blades.

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#86
post #3

So what's actually inside the packs, very fine bits of wet plant matter? Is there any real benefit of this over just selling bottles of fancy juice?

Because you can't eventually DRM a bottle.

Sure, but from the customer's perspective, why is this product necessary?

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#88

Wow, I can't even... this is comedy gold: >four tons of force >delivered weekly >QR code >online database >patent-pending >400 custom parts >scanner >microprocessor >wireless chip >wireless antenna >revolutionary machine >subscription model >“platform” for ... food delivery, Guys, we are talking about a juicer here.

Its the "unix toaster" of the 21st century although, to be fair to the unix toaster, at least DRM was not one of its requirements.

http://www.danielsen.com/jokes/objecttoaster.txt

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#89

$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?

Because they sell to people with more money than sense.

Like the Campbell Soup company, for example:

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/juicero/investors

Re: Juicero May Be Feeling the Squeeze

#90
post #5

"Two investors in Juicero were surprised to learn the startup’s juice packs could be squeezed by hand without using its high-tech machine." This sounds almost comical...

I don't see why this matters at all -- the disposable juice packs are what extract money from the consumer. It's the razor / replacement blade or printer / ink model. If someone finds out that they really only need the blades, ink, or juice packs, it's no big deal. The problem for the manufacturer comes when consumers figure out that they can use knock-off blades, generic ink, or 3rd party juice packs.

Except the razor is $400 here. It's not a throwaway device like a razor or a printer.
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