Do Mona-Vie products Compete with Quixtar's?

Let's first take a look at the drinkable products from MonaVie and Quixtar.

According to the bottle label, one serving of Mona-Vie has just 2% of the MDR of vitamin C and Iron and has 4 grams of sugar (20 calories).  At $45 retail ($21 wholesale) for 750ml I do not think it is something you will be drinking by the bottle in one evening.  Qblog did a write up on the juice.  At retail the cost per serving is about $1.78.

To be noted is that line of beverages is marketed under "children's health".   There are also the "Active 8" fruit squeeze products containing 25% real fruit juice.    This product lists for $13.10 and makes 1.5 gal..  One eight once serving costs $0.54

Of course if PeaPod is in your area you can buy your Kool-aid also online for $20.94 and have the option to buy only one instead of six..

Anyway, each single-serving box of Nutrilite Harvest 12 Vegetable Drink gives you a delicious blend of a dozen healthful vegetables with the spicy hint of black pepper and garlic.   Twenty-seven packages cost $41.85 ($1.55/pack).

Harvest 12 has 25% of the MDR of vitamin A, E and 4% for calcium.

My summary and opinion: 
1)   MonaVie juice cannot be considered a vitamin drink.   It has less nutritional value on its label than any of the beverages that Quixtar sells.  Based upon Mona-Vie's obvious lack of vitamins, Quixtar distributors should not stop taking their Double X vitamins.    

2)  The MonaVie product has an up scale packaging concept.   The wine bottle packaging gives the product a distinctive product image as compared to Quixtar's anti-oxidant tablets or vegetable drink in their throw-away individual serving packages.  

3)   MonaVie's makes anti-oxidant claims for its whole fruit juice.   Quixtar sells anti-oxidants in the form of tablets or their vegetable drink. 

As far as I can see, Quixtar does not offer a similar product to MonaVie, that is a whole fruit juice anti-oxidant.  I would personally rather drink a fruit juice than a vegetable drink.

To refresh the readers on his situation, Anderson was a diamond distributor in the Haugan organization. The fiasco all started in the aftermath of the  RIAA copyright suit in which Amway paid $9 million to settle the copyright claims of top Amway distributors selling videos without paying royalties for music on the videos.   In a rather complicated set of legal battles, Anderson wins an award against one time ADA board member, Hal Gooch, in a Florida court , an arbitration case against Anderson was opened, using the arbitration rules of Quixtar so that Gooch to get his money back.  In an unprecedented move, JAMS overturned the already decided Florida court case and the JAMS judge awarded $729,000 to Mr. Gooch.   All this information was on Anderson's website, which has since been taken down. 

There is a lot of discussion about JAMS arbitration and its neutrality.   On September 16, 2005 Missouri Federal District Court Judge Richard E. Dorr ruled the Quixtar arbitration agreement to be both substantive and procedural unconscionable in a suit involving Double Diamond Brigg Hart and Crown Kenny Stewart.  Judge Dorr also noted   "Also telling is the fact that Defendants have never lost in arbitration, with the exception of a few counterclaims".  Judge Dorr was the first federal judge who ruled against the Quixtar arbitration agreement, despite the fact that several other courts have upheld it. 

To say the least, Mr. Anderson was not happy with the outcome in his arbitration case.   Mr. Anderson's Amway/Quixtar business and twin engine airplane were seized and sold.   Later Anderson cashed in his retirement funds to make the final pay off of $250,000 to get them off his back.   What should a former Army helicopter pilot, who spent the majority of his working career doing Amway do now that he is in his '50's?     Naturally all Anderson knows is network marketing after twenty years doing Amway/Quixtar.  So Anderson signs up with Mona-Vie, a one product MLM selling a juice packaged in a 750ml wine bottle containing a concoction of 19 fruit juices.     

In the recent complaint against Anderson, that was available on his webiste, Anderson is now accused of numerous Quixtar rules violations including the Non-competition, anti-raiding rules, and apparently disparaging the Corporation with his website about his bad arbitration experience. 

The Non-competition and anti-raiding rules were added around May of 2004, I assume on a "take it or leave the business" basis with no compensation for the potential restriction on an IBO's ability to participate in other businesses.   There was no grandfather clause for distributors who were in the business for over 20 years, like Anderson.  On a side note, the 1981 Amway manual has an interesting comment on running rules changes and depriving distributors of certain material rights and how those issues could be addressed in a court.   Of course that is all over with the arbitration agreement that was also forced on IBOs as a take it or leave option. 

It is my opinion that IBOs are being forced over time to accept incremental rules changes that over time has taken away value from their "independent businesses".    With these new restrictive rules on what an "independent business owner" is allowed to sell, I question if   "independent business owner" still applies.  I believe more than ever that an "EDQP" or Exclusive Distributor for Quixtar Products is more applicable.

For the non-raiding rule, the Quixtar line of sponsorship is stated to be proprietary information and cannot be used for any other purpose.   Anderson is accused of prospecting people in the Amway/Quixtar for his new venture in MonaVie. Quixtar's complaint does have some exhibits with E-mails about Anderson prospecting Quixtar existing IBOs for his new venture. 

I know when I was in Amway, everybody was drawing out everybody else's downline on a piece of paper to track their growth.   To me, the downline and who was in it was some of the most common and open information going around.      Since the Quixtar business is advertised to be a "Hi-touch" personal interaction business, it is impossible not to make the line of sponsorship secret.  I doubt very much that Anderson is using some computer print out, and going name by name through it to see who might want to do MonaVie.    Anderson no doubt developed some personal relationships with people and

No doubt MonaVie and Quixtar are both MLM companies.    From the new rule 6.5 Quixtar does not want their distributors participating "as an independent distributor in (a) any other direct sales program using a multilevel or "network" marketing struc-ture" or, (b) selling anything that is "functionally interchangeable" with products from Quixtar.   Quixtar has thousands of product in all categories and MonaVie has just the juice.  I personally think someone could do both of the businesses to leverage their time and augment their product lines and incomes, but that is no longer allowed by the new rule.

I do not know why a person could not do both MLMs and not have a big conflict of interest.    Quixtar has thousands of other products, which MonaVie does not sell.    In my opinion Mona-Vie and Quixtar's seem to have little or no overlap.  One could take Quixtar Double X vitamins and wash it down wth shot of Mona-Vie whole fruit juice as part of their daily routine.

A person could sell SA-8 Soap, LOC, MagnaBloc Magnets, Nutrilite Vitamins, and leverage their time with an additonal product such as MonaVie's juice.   Look at most car dealers, they carry more than one line of car to augment their appeal to the car shopping public, and their products are direct substitutes.  Most Bicycle shops carry more than one line of bicycle.  Grocery stores carry numerous competing brands.  Wal-marts sell food but still allows McDonalds to set up shop in their stores.  But unfortunately, the Quixtar "Independent Business Owner" must exclusively carry the Quixtar line.  Quixtar even offers some competing brands on their website.   

In my opinion, it is not fair to the "independent business owner" that he cannot also offer competing MLM brands to his customers, especially due to the fact that Amway/Quixtar decided to add the rule after 45 years of doing business, and there was no grand father clause for old distributors.