I recently recieved a comment on our Parents Under Construction website explaining to me how Sambazon was better than MonaVie for a variety of reasons that I had not considered in my comparison of the two products. Click here to read the comparison I had written.
Although a number of comments the writer gave I know the answer to myself, there were a number of other comments that I decided to e-mail directly to MonaVie to find out the facts.
Below are the reader's statements with my answers as well as answers direct from MonaVie's Product Support group after the statement in blue:
"#1:Sambazon is a vertically integrated company meaning that they have total control from start to finish. They buy their acai direct from a co-op of growers (Mona-Vie does not, they go through a middle man which Sambazon used to have to do). The importance with this is the quality of acai varies greatly depending on the season, when it was picked, ect.
Directly from MonaVie Product Support: "Our acai comes from a supplier. Independent certificates of analysis are issued for the raw ingredients and finished MonaVie product. A certificate of analysis accompanies each raw ingredient. Certificates of analysis validate and verify purity, quality, and safety." "The açai that MonaVie uses is not from a farm or plantation. It is from wild açai trees within the Amazon Rainforest. We do not buy from any type of farm. We choose to buy from the local Amazonians who literally climb the açai tree to the top and pick the berries."
#2: Sambazon is NOT freeze dried after it is bought. the skin and pulp is removed from the seed and it is immediately frozen in large drums to be sent to the
Direct from MonaVie's Product Support:
"Either way is fine. Freeze-drying acai is a different process from freezing. The studies we have are just on our freeze-dried acai. We use both acai puree and freeze-dried acai in our blends. There are many benefits to freeze-drying, such as:
Freeze dried açai:
MonaVie uses freeze-dried açai and is the first to use this form of Açai in a juice. This same form of freeze-dried Açai with its proprietary process and associated claims has applied for patent protection in the U.S and 10 international countries. While MonaVie is not the patent owner, the company has been given full access and rights to the patent’s intellectual properties.
Freeze drying benefits:
Low temperatures of freeze drying ensure that the powerful phytonutrients remain intact. Other processing methods destroy a significant portion of phytonutrients. Air drying destroys 55 percent phytochemicals and spray drying destroys 70 percent phytochemicals content of açai.
1. Retains original characteristics of the product, including:
- color
- form
- size
- taste
- texture
- nutrient
2. Cold storage not required
3. Reconstitutes to original state when placed in water
4. No waste
5. Shelf stable at room temperature
6. The weight of the freeze-dried products is reduced (70 to 90 percent) with no change in volume
7. The product is light weight and easy to handle
8. Saves on shipping; shipping costs are reduced because of weight and lack of refrigeration
9. Low water activity virtually eliminates microbiological concerns
10. Offers highest quality in a dry product compared to other drying methods
MonaVie has tested freeze dried Açai powder nine months after its production date and the nutrient levels were still at the same levels they were at when the freeze dried powder was tested after production.
Freeze drying process:
Once picked from the vine, enzymatic degradation deteriorates many valuable nutrients from the berry. The harvested berries are processed within 48 hours to preserve their nutritional content. The Açai fruit is then processed into a pulp containing 14 percent solids. The pulp solids are immediately frozen and placed on trays which enter a freeze drying chamber. This process has many benefits. By freeze drying the Açai fruit, the powerful antioxidants such as polyphenols are preserved."
#3: it's organic. mona vie is not."
Direct from MonaVie's Product Support:
"The acai used in MonaVie is wild crafted and comes directly from the forest, therefore organic certification would be unnecessary. MonaVie is not certified organic. However, to ensure safety the finished MonaVie products are regularly tested for dozens of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides by an independent, third-party analytical laboratory. Each test performed has repeatedly found the products to be free of any of these potentially harmful substances. This added step in MonaVie’s quality control process ensures our consumers are getting a safe, pure, and high-quality product."
#4: it's sustainable..aka they only buy from growers that keep a natural ratio of acai palms to other natives on their property. if they start planting all acai, Sambazon won't buy from them anymore.
Direct from MonaVie Product Support:
"What ensures companies such as MonaVie to continue to harvest açai berries in the Amazon Rainforest?
Total consumption of the Açai fruit including what is consumed in Brazil is approximately 160,000 tons per year representing approximately 20 percent of the açai that is actually available for harvesting. The challenges are not in the amount available but in the effort that is involved in harvesting the berry. Açai grows wild and is harvested by climbing the açai palm tree and picking the fruit much like you would imagine picking coconuts from a palm tree.
Saving the Rainforest:
Thank you for your questions about MonaVie and its efforts to preserve the Brazilian Rainforest. MonaVie does all it can to promote and save the rainforest. Here are some astonishing facts about the Rainforest. Fourteen percent of the Earth’s land used to be covered in rainforest, today it is only a mere six percent.
In 2005 alone 10,088 square miles of the Amazon Rainforest were destroyed. Many of the pharmaceutical drugs used today were originally discovered in the Amazon Rainforest. Because of the abundance of plant life, this area of the world is called appropriately the “lungs of the planet.” We need to do all we can to preserve this section of land and prevent further destruction.
MonaVie has taken great efforts to help preserve this essential area of the world. The açai that MonaVie uses is not from a farm or plantation. It is from wild açai trees within the Amazon Rainforest. We do not buy from any type of farm. We choose to buy from the local Amazonians who literally climb the açai tree to the top and pick the berries.
Many of the locals that we buy from have used in the past the açai palm tree specifically for the hearts of palm. The hearts of palm is a section of the trunk popularly used in salads. When the hearts of palm is removed from the açai palm, the açai tree will inevitably die. We have chosen to use many of the same hearts of palm harvesters to now help harvest the açai berry. This helps decrease the production of hearts of palm and destruction of the rainforest.
We pay the harvesters substantially more to harvest the açai berry than they would otherwise to harvest the hearts of palm. Also, the education we have given to the harvesters of the hearts of palm has shown very beneficial results. Many of these harvesters have begun planting more açai trees when one has died. In this way we have contributed to the preservation of the rainforest and helped the economy in these regions.
In addition to this, when an açai tree dies naturally (they will live about 100 years), about five seedlings are replanted. The açai berry can be harvested within a few short years. In 2007 alone, we have already helped to preserve over 1,000 acres of the Amazon Rainforest.
Total consumption of the Açai fruit including what is consumed in Brazil is approximately 160,000 tons per year representing approximately 20 percent of the Açai that is actually available for harvesting. MonaVie is the largest consumer of açai in Brazil. The amount of açai in the rainforest is overwhelming, but we still feel it necessary to continue to preserve this abundant supply.
Does harvesting the açai berry destroy the Amazon Rainforest?
No. In fact, MonaVie is helping to preserve the Amazon Rainforest by harvesting the açai berry. Each week, poachers illegally chop down 5,000–10,000 palm trees to obtain and sell a 12-inch section of the palm known as the “palmito.” As a result, the entire tree dies. On the other hand, by harvesting the açai berry, the palm tree continues to thrive and the natives have an incentive to preserve the açai-bearing palm tree."
#5: it's fair-trade. mona vie is not. they pay the growers a higher than average pay for their acai as well as support many side ventures for others in the community."
"#6: as you said, THE PRICE!!! $2.99 for FRESH, ORGANIC acai juice in most major retailer across the country. i live in southern
"#7: there is no water in sambazon. yes, some of the juices are blended with other fruit concentrates...just like mona vie, but once again, these are ORGANIC fruits that are healthy for you."
Direct from Distributor Support:
"MonaVie fruits are purees and concentrates. This is shown on the ingredient label.
MonaVie Original Juice Ingredients: Proprietary blend of açai (freeze-dried powder and puree); Fruit juice from concentrate (white grape, apple, acerola, aronia, purple grape, cranberry, passion fruit, cupuaçu, prune, kiwi, blueberry, wolfberry [goji], pomegranate, lychee, camu camu); fruit purees (pear, banana, bilberry); natural flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate.
Concentrating is a way to remove the water from a product for ease of shipping."
In regards to the organic issue, here is more information direct from MonaVie's Product Support:
"The acai used in MonaVie is wild crafted and comes directly from the forest, therefore organic certification would be unnecessary. MonaVie is not certified organic. However, to ensure safety the finished MonaVie products are regularly tested for dozens of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides by an independent, third-party analytical laboratory. Each test performed has repeatedly found the products to be free of any of these potentially harmful substances. This added step in MonaVie’s quality control process ensures our consumers are getting a safe, pure, and high-quality product."
#8: they use agave nectar as a sweetener which is much for your body than cane sugar used elsewhere."
Direct from MonaVie Product Support:
"MonaVie doesn’t use sweeteners in Active, Original, Pulse, and Kosher. The corn syrup solids help emulsify the plant sterols in Pulse.
Corn syrup solids are very safe. They are used as a carrier in the emulsification process of plant sterols. By emulsifying the plant sterols, they are more easily dispersed into MonaVie Pulse and MonaVie Pulse Gel. This process guarantees you will receive the correct amount of plant sterols in each serving you consume.
Each serving of MonaVie Pulse contains about 200 mg or 0.2 grams of corn syrup solids, which equates to 0.2 grams of carbohydrates or less than 1 calorie. This is a very small amount. Corn syrup solids should not be confused with high fructose corn syrup, which is often added as one of the first ingredients in sodas and fruit drinks for sweetness and flavor."
Also, as far as the sugar goes per serving in your comparison, look at the serving size. For Sambazon it's the entire 10.5oz bottle, some of which contain 30 grams of sugar per serving and a serving is 8 ounces! So that's over 30 grams of sugar in one bottle. MonaVie's serving size is between 1 - 2 oz./serving depending on which drink you are drinking and the range in grams of sugar/serving is between 3 -7 so even a diabetic can, in most cases, safely drink MonaVie.
MonaVie's serving size offers a comparable nutritional value in one to two ounces compared to Sambazon's 8 ounces for a comparable nutritional value (i.e. ORAC units/serving).
"#9: and last but not least...i could go on for days, acai is EXTREMELY perishable, hence all of sambazon's products, minus their suppliements need to be refrigerated or frozen and have about a 3mo. shelf life. think twice when you buy that bottle of 1-2yr old mona vie."
I have to agree with you here, I too would not want to be drinking a one year old bottle of MonaVie or a 3 month or older bottle of Sambazon. This is the shelf life of the product however, it does not in any way imply that you will be drinking 3 month old Sambazon or 12 month old MonaVie, it is simply stating that after this period of time it is not recommended for consumption. So obviously the sooner you drink it the better.
To the writer of these comments: I just want the answers, like you, and I am tired of researching all over the internet listening to people pull facts of nowhere that have no references whatsoever. This is why I started this blog in the first place and why I refuse to post anything that came from a source other than MonaVie corporate or wikipedia.
I am responding to your comments in the form of a post so that we all can benefit from all of the hard work and time and research you and I have dedicated to learning more about these products. I have no problem with Sambazon, I like their products, although I do find their juices to be way too sweet for me. I feel that Sambazon and MonaVie are fairly comparable products for the most part, however Sambazon will never pay me to drink their product and MonaVie will. Sambazon will never give me the wholesale price as a regular consumer, MonaVie will. Sambazon will never allow me to get a bulk order discount as a retail consumer, MonaVie will.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment