Recently, Juicero was tagged as one of the biggest scams in the century because the one thing that it is supposed to do has been proven to be easily achieved by hand. The fancy machine that costs $400 demands a little space in your kitchen, and it does look amazing. So what’s the deal about it?
How The Juicero Machine Claims To Work
Juicero is a juicing machine that’s unlike any other. You don’t actually put fruits in it. Instead, you buy juice packs full of chopped produce from the company (no surprise there), you put the pack in the machine, and voila, juice comes out of the machine.
Friday fuel of choice! Ready, set, press.. pic.twitter.com/v1z0H5sqNu
— Juicero (@juicero) April 29, 2016
The unit is connected to the Juicero iOS app and all owners have to do is follow the instructions on it. Basically, it’s something like this: put the pack inside, close the lid, put a glass under the nozzle, press the button, wait for it to finish squeezing.
But that’s not all. According to its website, every high quality juice pack has its own QR code that the juicer checks to see if its contents are still good for consumption. It can be yours for only $400 (originally $700, so there’s that).
Juicero Juice Packs Can Be Squeezed By Hand
As it turns out, people don’t actually need the Juicero to get the juice out of the packs. As demonstrated by Bloomberg in the video below, anyone with hands can squeeze the juice packs themselves.
You get the same results: no mess, same amount of juice, and same time spent. The internet promptly responded in an uproar, saying that the Juicero is another one of those useless stuff that claim to be innovative but are actually only after the money of their claimed victims.
You Shouldn’t Actually Do That
However, Juicero advises owners to not do that. According to its CEO Jeff Dunn, it does more than press the packs.
“The value of Juicero is more than a glass of cold-pressed juice. Much more,” he says in a letter to Medium .
Dunn says that hacking products is not new and while the process looks simple, the Juicero is important to produce high quality and safe to consume products. It provides the following
“1. The first closed loop food safety system that allows us to remotely disable Produce Packs if there is, for example, a spinach recall. In these scenarios, we’re able to protect our consumers in real-time.”
“2. Consistent pressing of our Produce Packs calibrated by flavor to deliver the best combination of taste and nutrition every time.”
“3. Connected data so we can manage a very tight supply chain, because our product is live, raw produce, and has a limited lifespan of about 8 days.”
Apart from the machine, Juicero also prides itself in the packs. Ranging from $5 to $8, its website only promises high-quality produce that’s organic, fresh, washed properly, and chopped in the right way. Consumers who want to be assured of quality may be swayed by this and much more when they learn that the juice packs are only available to machine owners.
Packs on packs on packs???????????? pic.twitter.com/Hld3uNqsRn
— Juicero (@juicero) December 22, 2016
Sounds convincing to some but full of decorative words for those who would rather squeeze the packs using their hands and are content with reading the expiry date printed on them. But hey, the CEO says that the juice from hand squeezing is “mediocre.”
You Can Get A Refund Within 30 Days
If the CEO’s claims don’t convince you and you’re not happy with the chunk of fancy machine in your countertop, you can give it back within 30 days and you get a full refund.
Did you buy a Juicero or do you still want to buy one? Lets us know in the comment section below.
[Featured Image by Juicero/Twitter]