MonaVie
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Dietary supplements, Food and beverage |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Dallin Larsen |
| Defunct | 2015 |
| Fate | Foreclosure and asset acquisition by Jeunesse Global |
| Headquarters | South Jordan, Utah , United States |
Area served | International |
Key people | Dallin Larsen (Founder and Chairman), Henry Marsh (Co-founder and Vice-chairman), Maurício Bellora (CEO) |
| Products | Fruit juice blends, dietary supplements, weight management products |
Number of employees | 450 (2009) |
MonaVie was an American multi-level marketing enterprise that is no longer operational, focusing on products derived from a mixture of fruit juice concentrates, powders, and purées. The company encountered several controversies, notably due to health claims that were not substantiated by scientific validation or approved by regulatory agencies. Its chairman had a history of involvement with another beverage firm that made misleading health assertions.
The business approach of MonaVie drew criticism, with Forbes likening it to a pyramid scheme. Among its principal offerings were MonaVie Active, MonaVie Essential, and MonaVie Pulse. Established in 2005 in South Jordan, Utah, MonaVie expanded internationally and employed around 450 individuals by 2009. Leadership included founder and chairman Dallin Larsen, co-founder Henry Marsh serving as vice-chairman, and CEO Maurício Bellora.
In 2015, the company defaulted on a $182 million loan, leading to foreclosure proceedings. Subsequently, Jeunesse Global, based in Florida, acquired MonaVie’s assets by purchasing the debt for $15 million. Despite initial expansion and a notable presence in the dietary supplements and food & beverage industries, MonaVie experienced a significant downturn in financial performance that culminated in its shutdown.
Company overview
Dallin Larsen, previously a senior executive at multi-level marketing companies Dynamic Essentials and USANA, founded Monarch Health Sciences in 2003 to distribute diet and weight management supplements. In 2005, Monarch introduced MonaVie juice and formed MonaVie LLC/MonaVie Inc., a privately owned MLM corporation headquartered in South Jordan, Utah. This entity handled the bottling, distribution, and marketing of MonaVie products and managed the charitable initiative known as The MORE Project.
MonaVie's product sales were conducted exclusively through independent distributors who were not employees; these distributors earned commissions from their personal sales and could expand their networks by recruiting others, thereby receiving additional commissions from their recruited sales teams.
Products
The product line included blended fruit juices, carbonated energy beverages, dietary supplements, and weight management items. One specific product, MonaVie Kosher, received kosher certification from both the Orthodox Union of North America and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
Product research and physiological context
Testing by contract laboratory ChromaDex revealed that MonaVie contained modest amounts of antioxidant vitamin C along with phytochemicals such as anthocyanins and phenolics exhibiting antioxidant activity in vitro.
Although MonaVie emphasized polyphenol antioxidants sourced from açai berries and other fruits, scientific evidence does not support these compounds providing antioxidant benefits within the human body nor validates the relevance of ORAC values in vivo. Studies indicate that polyphenols’ antioxidant effects are largely diminished following digestion. Regulatory authorities including the FDA, Linus Pauling Institute, and EFSA agree that dietary polyphenols exert minimal direct antioxidant effects after being metabolized. Most polyphenols are poorly absorbed by the body, undergo metabolism, and are excreted without producing significant physiological impacts.
Adverse effects and interactions
A clinical case linked the consumption of MonaVie during pregnancy to the premature closure of the ductus arteriosus, which resulted in cardiac hypertrophy and pulmonary hypertension in the newborn. Additionally, another report suggested that MonaVie Active could influence blood clotting times (prothrombin time) in individuals taking warfarin or similar anticoagulants, advising against combining these substances.
Earnings of distributors
In 2009, MonaVie Executive Vice President Henry Marsh reported that around 14% of distributors earned a profit. According to a 2007 Income Disclosure reviewed by Newsweek, less than 1% qualified to receive commissions, and only 10% of those earned more than $100 per week. Over 90% of participants were wholesale buyers primarily benefiting from discounts on their own purchases. One leading recruiter observed a 70% attrition rate during 2008. Data from the Hartford Courant indicated that about 45% of distributors made less than $1,600 annually, 37% earned close to $2,000, approximately 2% surpassed $29,000 in earnings, and fewer than 0.01% exceeded $3 million, based on the 2008 Income Disclosure. In 2009, 85% received commission checks averaging $35 or less weekly, while the top seven earners averaged $3.4 million per year.
Nutritional content
Physician Andrew Weil and nutrition expert Jonny Bowden criticized MonaVie juice for its lack of substantiated health benefits and its premium price compared to more affordable polyphenol-rich alternatives. They also expressed concerns about the company's multi-level marketing structure. An evaluation by Men’s Journal revealed that MonaVie Active juice contained low levels of anthocyanins and phenolics and had vitamin C content significantly below that found in less expensive juices such as Welch’s Grape Juice. Ralph Carson, MonaVie's original developer and chief science officer, characterized the product as "expensive flavored water," stating that health claims were unsupported and that he was unaware of the exact amount of açai present.
Deceptive advertising and health claims
Critics including Bowden and Newsweek journalist Tony Dokoupil pointed out misleading distributor testimonials suggesting MonaVie could cure various illnesses. The company's rapid expansion, driven by billions invested by lower-tier distributors, raised concerns about Utah's nutritional supplement sector. In 2007, the FDA issued a warning to one distributor for illegal online claims about treating inflammation and high cholesterol; these issues were resolved after claims were reduced. A 2008 article in Forbes described MonaVie as a pyramid scheme, citing distributor testimonials implying cancer cures.
Company leadership acknowledged persistent issues with distributors making unauthorized health claims. CEO Dallin Larsen admitted in 2008 that some sales representatives risked regulatory violations, and the company faced challenges monitoring false statements made by independent sellers. Later that year, MonaVie stated many distributors "possibly unknowingly" breached advertising guidelines. In 2009, executive vice-president and cofounder Randy Larsen confirmed ongoing difficulties managing promoters who presented the juice as a cure-all product.
Dallin Larsen and Dynamic Essentials/Royal Tongan Limu
Before founding MonaVie, CEO Dallin Larsen held a senior leadership role at a multi-level marketing firm that sold a comparable juice product but was ultimately shut down by the FDA due to unlawful practices. In 2001, Larsen took on the role of vice president of sales at Dynamic Essentials, a Florida-based company marketing the fruit juice known as Royal Tongan Limu, where he asserted that he boosted sales by 300%. The following year, the FDA issued a warning to Dynamic Essentials for making illegal health claims on its website, including assertions that the juice could treat illnesses such as cancer and arthritis. Shortly thereafter, Dynamic Essentials ceased operations, with the FDA supervising the voluntary destruction of 90,000 bottles in 2003.
Pyramid scheme allegations
In 2008, Larsen joined forces with Orrin Woodward, a former Amway distributor and founder of TEAM, an Amway distributor network. Woodward became both a distributor and spokesperson for MonaVie, merging TEAM’s structural organization and sales resources with MonaVie’s compensation framework. According to litigation filed by Amway, Woodward received a $3 million loan from MonaVie, which was repayable only if specific recruitment goals were achieved. A 2008 article in Forbes labeled MonaVie as a pyramid scheme and described TEAM as "a pyramid atop a pyramid," emphasizing that roughly only 1% of participants earned profits while exploiting regulatory gaps in FTC enforcement against pyramid schemes.
Litigation
Since its inception, MonaVie and its leadership have been involved in numerous legal disputes. These encompass false advertising and trademark infringement claims brought by Imagenetix, Inc. (2008), lawsuits involving Quixtar/Amway (2008), a false endorsement case featuring Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz (2009), two class action suits (2010 and 2013), and copyright infringement allegations against Zrii (2010). Additionally, MonaVie initiated legal action against former sales agents for contract breaches.
Trademark infringement and false advertising cases
In 2008, Imagenetix, Inc. filed a $2.75 billion lawsuit against MonaVie, its board members, and leading distributors for trademark infringement, contending that MonaVie's Active juice contained Celadrin. The dispute was resolved through an out-of-court settlement, after which Imagenetix entered into an undisclosed business arrangement with MonaVie.
In 2010, MonaVie pursued legal action against competitor Zrii, accusing it of replicating MonaVie’s distributor compensation model and seeking both injunctive relief and monetary damages.
In 2009, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz initiated lawsuits against 40 companies—including MonaVie—for falsely leveraging their endorsements to market açaí products. Winfrey’s official website clarified that neither she nor Dr. Oz had endorsed any açaí-related products, including those from MonaVie.
A class action lawsuit filed in Arkansas in 2010 alleged that MonaVie and its distributors engaged in false advertising and civil conspiracy. Another class action suit in New Jersey in 2013 accused the company of deceptive business conduct and false advertising under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, asserting that MonaVie promoted unsubstantiated health claims while charging inflated prices. A comparable lawsuit was brought in Florida in 2014 alleging misleading advertising regarding products such as MonaVie Active and failure to disclose potential harmful ingredients like arsenic and lead.
In 2014, K2A LLC filed suit against MonaVie seeking tens of millions over patent infringement related to freeze-dried açai berry utilized in MonaVie's formulations. K2A alleged that MonaVie violated their 2004 licensing agreement by ceasing royalty payments since 2009 and failing to deliver agreed-upon company shares. The claim demanded at least 10% of MonaVie's gross sales plus treble damages. In January 2015, this dispute was resolved through an undisclosed settlement.
Conflict with Amway
In 2008, Quixtar, an affiliate of Amway, initiated a federal lawsuit against MonaVie and sixteen former high-ranking distributors who had departed from Amway. The suit accused the former distributors of unfair competition by making misleading product claims and violating contractual agreements. In response, MonaVie filed a lawsuit in Utah seeking a judicial determination on the validity of Quixtar's non-compete clauses applied to independent distributors and later sought dismissal of the original lawsuit. Following this, MonaVie pursued additional legal action against Quixtar in Colorado. The litigation between Amway and MonaVie was resolved through a settlement in 2010 before proceeding to trial.
In 2009, arbitration found Orrin Woodward and his spouse Laurie responsible for persuading distributors to leave Quixtar in favor of MonaVie. They were mandated to pay $12.7 million in damages, while co-defendants Chris and Terri Brady were ordered to pay $9.6 million, and Tim and Amy Marks $3.5 million.
Litigation involving former distributors
In 2012, MonaVie took legal steps against Joseph Licciardi and other distributors, accusing them of contract breaches by attempting to recruit MonaVie distributors to rival MLM firms. An arbitrator ruled in April 2015 that Licciardi was entitled to $1.2 million, determining that MonaVie had violated its contract by terminating his distributorship.
Loan default and property seizure
In May 2014, MonaVie failed to meet obligations on a $182 million promissory note issued in 2010 by TSG-MV Financing LLC, associated with TSG Consumer Partners. This note was subsequently purchased in March 2015 by MLM company Jeunesse Global. In May 2015, a federal court granted a temporary restraining order preventing Jeunesse Global's acquisition after Bankers Trust, which managed MonaVie's employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), contended that the foreclosure would eliminate the value of ESOP holdings.