Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Coelho, what does the Juice in Juice Plus+ actually stand for?

Alexander Coelho: I asked myself the same question when I joined the company seven years ago. At its core, the answer lies in our products. We do not produce Juice, in the traditional sense of beverages, because many nutrients from the original products would be lost. Our Juice Plus+ Essentials, which are a selection of fruits, vegetables, and berries, contain a unique powder blend of 30 different types of fruit, vegetables, and berries, which include thousands of micronutrients, combined with selected vitamins and other plant compounds. This is also possible thanks to our specially developed production process.

Wirtschaftsforum: What exactly happens in that process?

Alexander Coelho: Just last year, I visited a farm near Chicago and was able to experience the process from field to capsule firsthand. The products of Juice Plus+ are minimally processed and are produced using methods that keep our whole-food, plant-based ingredients as natural as possible. Fruits, vegetables, and berries are harvested at full ripeness, and our patented drying process allows us to pack an amazing amount of nutrients from our fruit, vegetable, and berry powders into our capsules and chewables.

Wirtschaftsforum: Juice Plus+ acts as a direct selling company – that initially sounds a bit like the 1990s.

Alexander Coelho: Granted: The term direct selling might sound a bit old-fashioned; but when I talk about affiliate marketing or influencer marketing instead, it immediately sounds much more contemporary – these phenomena are nothing but more modern forms of the classic direct selling, just like the Amazon Marketplace or referral programs, which almost every provider has implemented by now.

Wirtschaftsforum: How did this distribution structure fare during and after the coronavirus pandemic?

Alexander Coelho: Already in the years before, we could record very strong growth especially through digital channels like Facebook, Instagram, and later TikTok, which began to slow down a bit in 2019. During the coronavirus pandemic, however, all direct selling providers that had already relied on social media and video meetings experienced an enormous boom, with Juice Plus+ being no exception. In our case, two favorable factors came together: While almost all people were increasingly focusing on the topic of health due to the general news situation and thus also on dietary supplements, many employees, who were either in short-time work or could not pursue their regular jobs for other reasons, wanted to find simple sources of side income that could be comfortably managed from home in part-time. Not all of those who saw an opportunity in Juice Plus+ back then could be convinced of our model in the long term – we see that today with some self-criticism. However, we learned from this experience how we can convey our message even more sustainably into the markets to really open up solid and long-term perspectives for our sales partners – this is certainly a central goal of Juice Plus+ for the coming years.

Wirtschaftsforum: What role do live events, which are now possible again after the pandemic, also play?

Alexander Coelho: With the strong focus on social media channels over the past few years, perhaps the obvious was lost sight of – namely, that direct sales thrive on personal contact, because the products behind them require a certain amount of explanation. No other distribution channel can provide this in the same way. To forcefully promote this unique selling proposition on a sustainable basis, we launched the ‘90 Days, 90 Events’ campaign at the beginning of the year, a target we had already exceeded in February. The results were impressive: At just one event in Berlin, we were recently able to welcome 600 people who we were able to inspire on the topics of nutrition, fitness & movement, mental health, and motivation as part of the NOW! program launched more than three years ago with Detlef D! Soost and Kate Hall. The conversion rates at such events are no less impressive. This clearly shows that the trustful personal exchange, especially with our range of products, offers an irreplaceable added value – an important starting point for further organic growth of Juice Plus+.