The company behind Juicero, the $400 juicer that works as well as your $0 hands, will cease operations. In a statement posted to its website and first reported by Fortune, the San Francisco start-up announced it will suspend sales of its Juicero Press and Produce Packs. This news comes just a month and a half after the company announced it would lower the price of its device (initially sold for $699 and later $400).
According to the statement, the company found itself lacking the infrastructure necessary to create a manufacturing and distribution system. Now, it says it will focus on finding a buyer that has access to “an existing national fresh food supply chain.” Will Amazon swoop in? Will America soon be flooded with hybrid Alexa-Juicero machines?
Things started to go south for Juicero in April, when a report by Bloomberg found that you could simply squeeze the propriety juice bags with your hands. This raised the question of why exactly consumers needed the expensive, Wi-Fi-enabled device at all, and sales subsequently slumped. It became the subject of significant mockery, as well as a symbol of misguided motives and false platitudes of tech.
Here is the company’s full statement:
To our loyal customers and partners,
Since our launch 16 months ago, we’ve been grateful for the support you’ve shown toward our mission of bringing more fresh produce into people’s lives. Juicero has grown so much thanks to your loyalty.
However, today, after selling over a million Produce Packs, we must let you know that we are suspending the sale of the Juicero Press and Produce Packs immediately.
In order to fulfill our mission, we announced last month that we would shift our resources to focus on lowering the price of the Press and Produce Packs. We began identifying ways that we could source, manufacture and distribute at a lower cost to consumers.
During this process, it became clear that creating an effective manufacturing and distribution system for a nationwide customer base requires infrastructure that we cannot achieve on our own as a standalone business. We are confident that to truly have the long-term impact we want to make, we need to focus on finding an acquirer with an existing national fresh food supply chain who can carry forward the Juicero mission.
For the next 90 days, we are offering refunds for your purchase of the Juicero Press. Please contact help@juicero.com by December 1, 2017 to request a refund for your purchase. If you have an active Pack subscription, you will receive your final delivery next week (week of September 4th).
As we enter this new chapter, we also want to express the deepest gratitude to our employees who have poured their hearts and souls into developing, launching and growing Juicero over the past 3 years. Words alone cannot express how humbled we are by their commitment, ingenuity and talents; they have showed true care for each other, our amazing customers and our shared mission. While this decision will affect them personally, we’re committed to ensuring a fair transition for all. We could not be more proud of our team and are excited to see the positive impact they will continue to have in the world. If your company is hiring and has interest in talking with any of our employees, please contact us at jobs@juicero.com.
In a short period of time, you’ve validated that there is national demand for easier access to fresh produce and hassle-free cold-press juicing — thank you again for coming on this journey with us.
Thank you,
The Juicero Team
