If you are looking for a model business to look up to for inspiration, then don’t look at Monavie.

Monavie entered the acai juice market in 2005 with a range of products. These products were, from the start, over priced and sadly lacking in acai juice.

Critics of the juice included prominent physicians and nutritionists, who claimed the health benefits of the Monavie products had not been proved, and that their marketing was misleading. They went on to tell potential customers that the Monavie product was ‘exorbitantly priced’.

Monavie went on the marketing trail and, in an attempt to hide the apparent flaws in the product itself, tried to simply mislead the public about the benefits even further. The Monavie juice products were claimed to be effective in treating inflammation, high cholesterol, muscle and joint pain, and many others. The FDA took exception to these claims, and it turned out that Monavie had been marketing its juice products as a drug; this was illegal and Monavie were warned.

The management team behind Monavie must enjoy the trip to court: certainly they have been there enough times, with no less than three major cases emerged since 2007 — they were the plaintiff in one and dependent in the remaining two.

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