How High-End Juices Extract Money From Consumers

[elleng]

I usually make my coffee at home. Otherwise, I resort to the machine in the nearest office kitchen that produces terrible espresso from those hermetically sealed ground-coffee pods. But every once in a while I yield to absurd Midtown Manhattan coffee prices and buy a delicious, extortionate latte.

When I went to Dean & DeLuca last week, I spotted “cold pressed juice.” The 16-ounce bottle listed its ingredients: kale, apple, mint, lemon and ginger. I had never purchased one of these juices before, but enough bickering trend pieces have been written about the stupidity or sanctity of the trend that I understood the general concept of the juice: Reset your metabolism, drink your calories, swap lunch for liquid.

I handed over my credit card and the bottle of Joni Juice and learned something more startling about the impact of these juices. The cashier handed me the receipt. It cost $12. I gasped and requested a price check. He said, “I’m sorry, I should have warned you.”

That juice cost 6 cents per calorie. At this rate, filling my daily calorie requirement would cost $132. The average American family spends a little over $20 each day on food.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/15/upshot/how-high-end-juices-extract-money-from-consumers.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMediaHigh&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

[VanillaRhapsody]

1. that's why I have a 900 Watt Nutribullet!

[tridim]

2. I use an Oster Beehive blender. An rare example of "mid-range" performing better than "high end".

Best $59 I've ever spent.

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. Yeah had one of those for years....

[HuckleB]

4. The only time I drink juice is when a shot of liquor is also involved.

Whole fruit makes much more sense.

[SheilaT]

5. Aren't there machines out there to make juice?

Yes, I'm being a bit snarky. I've also learned to look at the prices of things before I buy. And why I almost always pay cash for everything, especially food.