The $700 Juicero juicer must be proof that people will buy anything on the Internet. It's even further proof that there's ton of money still floating about in Silicon Valley. So far, this project raised more than $120 million of funding.
Remember, it is just a juicer and an expensive one at that. And with that much funding, it's probably the world's most famous juicer by now. But also remember that at one time, the washing machine and dryer were once considered unnecessary extravagances for the home.
So what makes the Juicero stand out among all other juicers found in American kitchens? (Besides the price and funding, of course.) Often referred to as the "Keurig of Home Juicers," the Juicero is really more than just a single product.
Juicero is a juicer, yes. But it's as much a technology product — it uses a Wi-Fi connection — as it is a whole organic supply chain all squashed into one. Its founder, Doug Evans, says he has solved all the main problems with home juicing.
From purchasing the organic produce to juice from the market, to cleaning and cutting all the produce for juicing in the machine, while setting up and assembling the juicing machine itself and finally, cleaning up the mess resulting from all that juicing - it's a hassle.
Evans has all that solved in the Juicero. The physical product that is the Juicero sits on the counter top. It's built from aircraft grade aluminum and uses thousands of pounds of force to extract nutrients and juices. But it won't be doing all that juicing from real produce.
Rather, the Juicero uses all those tricks on juice packs that can be purchased separately from, you guessed it, Evan's Juicero. The juice packs look like IV bags themselves and are currently offered in five varieties such as Sweet Roots, Carrot Beet, and Spicy Greens. They're priced between $5 and $10 each.
The techie side of the Juicero shines when the product connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi and when owners use the Juicero app on a smartphone to order more packs of squashed produce to be juiced.
The packs themselves are labeled with a QR code, which the Juicero scans to ensure that the pack's contents are indeed fresh. The Juicero will also auto-order more packs for owners online when it notices that the stack needs to be replenished.
The juicer never needs to be cleaned. All the work of juicing is actually done by the machine itself and the invisible supply chain behind it provides for a continuous stream of juice packs coming from farmers in California.
Juicero is indeed the first of its kind, thus, the high price. But if Juicero indeed becomes an indispensable part of a healthy kitchen, we should expect to see a cheaper version 2.0 to come out and in more places outside of the kitchen, too. Evans expects to sell more units to restaurants and offices around the country.
Until then, check out the video below to see the Juicero in action.
