e
Silicon Valley Startup Juicero Throws In the Towel
A lesson in do and don'ts of IoT
As a strong indication of the powers of journalism and the sometimes superfluous nature of the Internet of Things, Juicero has officially shut its doors. Last Friday, the company announced they would be shutting down production of their $400 Wifi-connected juicing machines and offering full refunds to customers within the past 16 months.
Juicero's selling point was to provide a mess-free solution to quick and fresh cold pressed juice at home by developing a machine that squeezed vacuum sealed packages of fruit with enough pressure "to lift two Teslas," as said by founder Doug Evans. The company's original business goals were not just to provide advanced juicing technology at a high price, but also an indispensable distribution system where consumers were required to regularly buy "produce packs" for around $7 a pop.
As of spring last year, their product distribution model only allowed for consumers in California to enjoy the luxuries of Juicero, and with such a heavy price tag, the joke was often that it was a machine specifically built for Silicon Valley.
via BloombergThe Juicero was originally priced at around $700, but after industry pressure the pricetag dwindled down to a still impressive $400. Amid already growing suspicion of the worth of the company's technology, a report in April from Bloomberg Media confirmed that juicing a Juicero packet with your own hands turned out to take less time than squeezing it with their highly engineered cold-press machine.
There seem to be several issues at play hinting to Juicero's demise: on one hand, there's the price, and on another, the company's decision to adopt a highly complicated distribution model (presumably as a way for the company to make continued income as opposed to creating convenience for their customer). But perhaps most importantly, the Juicero fed into our most indulgent expectations of the Internet of Things. The machine was designed to have an entirely dependent relationship with your phone—no Wifi and Juicero app means no juice. Yes, the product was Wifi enabled to confirm whether or not your produce packet was expired, but as designers have extensively discussed in this day and age, there's a time and place for a product to connect to the internet. The expiration date model is something consumers have been used to for decades, and although it has its flaws, it's still a pretty good indicator of freshness. It's important for a company like Juicero to ask, "does our product require a level of engagement with people or data in the internet stratosphere?" If not, probably safe to say you can leave the extra wiring out of it.
Perhaps the ultimate lesson learned here is no matter how much people love a mess-free juicer, that love is still not enough for us to pay the heavy price tag. My guess is Juicero will live in our cultural timeline as the Google Glass of 2017, defining the current mindset of an eager and well-funded tech world with skewed expectations of how the future will actually operate.
We want to hear more about your thoughts on Juicero and the IoT world. What do you think Juicero could have done to save their product? In what realms of product design is internet incorporation appropriate? Contribute your thoughts to the comment section below.
-
oFavorite This
-
Q9Comment
Directory Company Profiles
Core77
Industrial Design
Resources
Industrial Design
Resources
-
Core77 Directory
Find the Best Industrial Design CompaniesGo -
Curve ID
Curve ID is a New York City based studio, offering a complete industrial design consultancy service....
-
HS Design
HSD believes the future is based on teamwork across many disciplines and collaboration with multiple...
-
WhipsawWhipsaw, under the leadership of design visionary Dan Harden, is a highly acclaimed strategy, indust...
-
Bluemap Design
BlueMap design is a multi-disciplinary product development firm. Founded by Simon Yan in 2001, the f...
-
Olivialand Studio
Olivialand Studio, founded by Olivia Blechschmidt, is a boutique industrial design consultancy that ...
-
RKS Design
RKS is an award-winning global product design firm and innovation consultancy specializing in indust...
-
Architectural Cladding & Roofing
Architectural Cladding & Roofing (ArcClad) are a New Zealand based firm specializing in roofing prod...
K
{Welcome
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
K
Reset Password
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Comments
To me this is a classic example of "business case before use case" development mindset. I can vividly imagine the proposal deck about combining "Apple, Keurig and Pressed Juicery" into one product, and how tantalizing those business models must have looked sitting next to each other on a PPT slide. Premium hardware + high margin consumables + health trend = instant success right? Apparently not. For me this experiment underscores the importance of user empathy and problem definition in product design. The value a product generates for the user justifies the value a user generates for the manufacturer.
Nailed it
My issue with it was that it wasn't a juicer. And then they forgot that the razor-and-blades business model...sold the razors cheap.
I think it's the same trend, confusing novelty with functionality! Even Apple has been doing that for the past couple of years!
You're over-analyzing this. It's got nothing to do with IoT or tech. The venture industry prioritizes ARR (Annually Recurring Revenue) business models over everything (learned from the software SaaS/Cloud revolution). The Juicero people didn't seek to improve juicing, they sought to make an ARR business out of juice. They concocted this BS device to make it seem like unique and new tech, rather than a juice (pulp) subscription. It's truly no more complicated than that.
This case study is a cautionary tale for how the limits of IoT are beginning to take form.
Don't forget the clone: Juisir.
The approach has flaws from beginning, it seems to be delivering the crushed/chopped or shredded veggies (I am not sure as I never used it, only saw pictures), but if someone can squeeze out juice with bare hands it has to be some sort of finely shredded mush – right. Now if there was pulp of some kind then enzymes come out of cells (if vegetable was fresh) and start the process of degradation (you can still slow down that by cooling, but to an extent). In addition key nutrients like vitamin C, folic acid degrades pretty quick over days of storage and transport. So even with all costly stuff, refrigeration, did the people Got nutrition when they pressed that button or it was green liquid only … It wasn't sustainable was of juicing anyways, too much processing, too much food and energy wastage …NASA archives locking in almost all nutrients in their food (fruits/vegetables) by freeze drying which sucks out almost all water in gentle way by cooling to -50 degree centigrade and vacuuming. This Locks in nutrition, texture, flavor taste, think of 100 grams strawberry turning into ~8 grams, still looking same from outside, with nutrition preserved for years to come, no need to pasteurize or add preservatives. No wasted pulp with fibers/nutrients.There is a company Little Juice Inc. running a project now for funding at kickstarter, they are using exactly same technology as NASA for juices. It is a sustainable way for future. It is a powdered form drink thus non perishable and great for people with active lifestyle – hiker, campers, runners …https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/littlejuice/little-juice-the-future-of-juicing/description?ref=family.go2.fund&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=family.go2.fund
My 2 cents: Just change up the pouch design so the user can drink straight from that. Get rid of the juicer. It's like a Capri Sun for health big kids.