We have a strong obsession when it comes to coffee. Americans consume around 400 million cups of coffee every single day, with many people drinking multiple cups a day. We’re often resistant to give up coffee as well and often need it to get going in the morning.
Network marketing companies tap into this demand. They suggest that you can get a slice of the market and make money by promoting coffee (and related products). The idea has merit too. There is clearly demand for coffee and you’ll already know many people who drink it regularly.
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If you are considering the MLM angle, this list is a good place to start. In it, I highlight the various companies that promote coffee, along with how you can make money. The list doesn’t include every single company that sells coffee. Instead, I’m focusing on those that have coffee as one of their primary products. I’m not associated with any of them, so the list offers an objective way to compare the companies.
These companies do all work to some degree, but proceed with caution! I recommend that you pay close attention to what they offer. For one thing, it’s best to be passionate about the product, which means you should try it. You’re not going to get far selling coffee if you don’t drink and enjoy the brand yourself.
Another thing to watch out for is unfounded claims of health benefits. To distinguish themselves from regular coffee, even gourmet coffee which is often cheaper, more easily accessible, more transparent, and better tasting, lots of these companies will add extra things like mushrooms or other supplements to “supercharge” the coffee.
You should also pay close attention to expenses. Most companies will have ongoing costs, such as a requirement to purchase products each month. These costs can add up fast. This may even mean that you are spending almost as much as you’re earning. Getting stuck with coffee on autoship could mean you end up with a garage full of mushroom-flavored coffee and you try to resell it at a 75% percent discount on eBay.
Network Marketing Companies
- Valentus
- Javita
- Organo
- Java Momma
- Gano Excel
- GanoLife
1. Valentus
- Focus: Various health and energy products, including SlimROAST Italian (a type of coffee)
- Minimum Cost: $20 (activation fee) + $59.95 (initial order)
Product Overview: Valentus is most famous for its SlimROAST Italian. This is even one of the most well-known products of its type. The SlimROAST Italian is basically a sachet of instant coffee, with some added ingredients. Valentus uses a proprietary blend that includes green coffee bean extract, Garcinia Cambogia extract, Green Tea extract and various other ingredients.
The product is meant to taste amazing, provide extra energy and promote weight loss. Whether it does or not is debatable. Most of the ingredients have some scientific support but this tends to be minimal. Reviews are mixed. Some people find it to be effective, others don’t. Similarly, some people love the taste, while others hate it.
The simple answer is to try it out for yourself. If you like the flavor and see results, great, the product might be worth promoting. If not, it probably isn’t the best choice.
Pricing is another factor; the coffee isn’t cheap. Valentus doesn’t provide many details on their site and estimates vary. But, a single box seems to cost around $59.95 and contains 24 individual sachets. That’s more than $2 for a cup of instant coffee. Customers pay less if they buy in bulk but the prices are still pretty high.
Commission Quick View: The basic commission from sales is simply 25%. That’s a pretty typical level, one that you’ll see time and time again.
The team aspect uses a binary system, which means you have a left and a right team. Your income and bonuses are related to how these teams perform compared to one another. To be successful, you need two teams that perform well. You’d earn very little if only one of your teams made consistent sales. The binary aspect adds to the complexity as well, making it tough to maximize your income.
Valentus also uses a rank system. You get access to more bonuses and income potential by progressing through the ranks. But, as always, requirements increase as well. You need to hit certain sales requirements within your teams and get people you recruit promoted as well.
It is also possible to start on a higher rank by buying one of the more expensive starter kits ($129.95, $199.95 or $499.95) but you don’t stay at those ranks. Instead, you will need to hit the various requirements sooner or later.
To remain active, you need to order 100 BV (business volume) of products per month. This calculates out to at least $119.90 per month. You can purchase any of the products from Valentus, you’re not just limited to the coffee. Still, it’s a decent amount to spend each month.
Final Thoughts: There’s nothing amazing about the plan from Valentus and the ongoing costs are expensive. Even so, it could be worth considering if you personally love the coffee and see benefits from it.
2. Javita
- Focus: Weight loss and energy coffee products, along with related items
- Minimum Cost: $299 (for a starter pack that contains various products)
Product Overview: Javita is the other major player in the coffee field. The product range involves various mixes that you can add to water, herbal cleanse tea, green tea, cocoa and two coffee products. The coffee options are called Burn + Control and Energy + Mind. The first is mostly for weight loss, while the second is meant to provide alertness and energy.
As with Valentus, the products are regular instant coffee, with extra ingredients. For Burn + Control, the main added components are yerba mate and Garcinia Cambogia. For Energy + Mind, the ingredients are Bacopa Monnieri and Guta Kola. Once again, there is some support for the ingredients but not a large amount of it.
The pattern of reviews is similar as well. Some people certainly are passionate about Javita, finding that the coffee really does help (of course, some of them may be distributors). On the other hand, there are reports of side effects and an unappealing flavor. The coffee isn’t cheap either. Buying through the site costs $120 for three boxes. The price may be lower through a distributor but the difference will be minimal.
Once again, it’s probably best to try the products out for yourself and see how you find them. There’s a good chance that the coffee is decent enough – although it’s not going to live up to all the hype and wild claims.
Commission Quick View: The compensation for Javita is a little confusing, which is never a good sign. The base compensation ranges from 10% to 30% for sales, based on your monthly volume of sales. But, you need at least 200 in monthly volume to earn anything at all from monthly sales. Anything before that is credited to your upline.
You can also earn bonuses from new preferred customers (ones who sign up for autoship). Here you get 20% to 30% of their first order only. Likewise, you earn a commission on any starter kit sales. But, the amounts are relatively low compared to the sales. For example, you earn $50 from any orders of the $299 kit and $250 for any orders of the $999 kit.
For the team aspect, Javita uses a unilevel plan, where you earn based on who recruited who. This starts out allowing you to earn 5% from your first generation and 5% from your second. But, you need three active legs in your team and you must hit volume requirements. You also need at least 150 volume in sales and 100 volume in personal purchases every month. It isn’t clear what those levels calculate out to but you’re probably paying more than $100 per month.
You can still earn money with Javita. But, this plan is very difficult for beginners. You’re not even earning a basic commission from all of your sales, which is just a horrible design.
Final Thoughts: The products from Javita are debatable, at best, while the compensation plan is stacked against you. There isn’t enough to make this company worthwhile.
3. Organo
- Focus: Coffee and related drinks, with one key compound.
- Minimum Cost: $49 (for a starter kit)
Product Overview: Organo offers multiple different types of coffee, including Gourmet Black Coffee and their King of Coffee. This is another example of coffee with added ingredients. In this case, Organo heavily relies on one ingredient – Ganoderma lucidum.
This is a type of mushroom that is often promoted as having health and weight loss benefits. Once again, there is some evidence for benefits but not as much as the company implies. You’re probably not getting that much Ganoderma lucidum per serving either.
Organo has taken steps to make their products look better and to expand their range. Their items are also cheaper than competing companies. For example, a 30 pack of their black coffee costs $27.00 through their site. That’s still expensive for instant coffee – but it’s less than Javita or Valentus.
These aspects could make Organo an appealing choice. But, at the end of the day, you’d just be selling coffee with extra ingredients. How realistic that is would depend on your audience. There are also some associated side effects, so proceed with care.
Commission Quick View: Organo offers two different ways to make sales. You can promote the products on a replicated website from the company or you can sell them in person. Selling through the website means that people buy at the Suggested Retail Price. You earn the difference between that and the wholesale price.
Selling in person involves buying and reselling the products. You can also mark up the price, which potentially means more profit. Of course, selling this way has challenges too. You need to try and predict how much people are going to buy and which products. If you get this wrong, you could be left with products you need to discount or ones you cannot sell at all.
Team income relies on a dual team system, which is simply a binary model. This style means you need to balance the performance of two teams. You can earn from 10% to 20% of the sales from your lesser leg, depending on your level in the company. There are also bonuses under a unilevel model, which are related to your rank in the company.
The various bonuses should mean more income potential than with other companies. But, it’s not clear whether that’s the case. Organo can’t even specify precisely how much commission members earn. The design is also complicated and involves many different factors. Even if the income potential were higher, figuring out how to optimize it would be tough.
Final Thoughts: The products from Organo are somewhat competitive and might appeal to the right audience. But, I’m not convinced about the compensation plan, it’s far too complex, even for an MLM.
4. Java Momma
- Focus: Simply coffee, no gimmicks.
- Minimum Cost: $55 (which gets you a basic starter kit)
Product Overview: Java Momma sells coffee, tea, cocoa and a few related products. The main difference is that the coffee is just coffee. There are no extra herbs included and the products aren’t designed to improve health at all.
There is also a decent product range, like you would see in a physical store. Some of the products follow common styles, like Colombia Supremo Dark Roast. Others use specific flavors, such as Chocolate Macadamia Nut and Cookiedoodle. Customers can choose the type of grind, the bag size and whether they want regular or decaf (decaf is only available for some flavours).
Prices for the coffee range from around $8.99 to $12.99. There are also some more expensive options, such as Organic Haitian Blue Mountain for $34.99. The price difference is explained on the site and is associated with quality and the direct trade nature of the coffee.
There are few reviews, so it’s impossible to know what customers think of the products. On the plus side, there is significant demand for high-quality coffee. But, there are also many places to find coffee. There is little to suggest that Java Momma coffee is better than what you’ll find elsewhere.
Commission Quick View: Java Momma offers 20% commission on all sales. This doesn’t seem to increase as you progress in the company, so 20% is what you earn no matter what. This is still reasonable, especially if you can make consistent sales. Even so, other companies may offer more.
The team-based income is also limited. Java Momma just has a three-tiered design. So, you earn from people you recruit and then two levels below them. Java Momma doesn’t offer many details about this side of things but there appear to be few bonuses or extra sources of income.
Overall, Java Momma doesn’t have the same growth potential that you see in other MLMs. But, it isn’t all bad. You just need to make one purchase every three months to stay active and there seem to be no sales requirements. This makes Java Momma an interesting place to start with direct marketing and a fairly low-risk approach.
Final Thoughts: I love the simplicity of the company and the absence of hype. It is one of the better coffee companies in the field. But, it is also a small operation and the products aren’t extremely competitive.
5. Gano Excel
- Focus: Coffee and related items using Ganoderma
- Minimum Cost: $195 (for a starter kit)
Product Overview: The product selection for Gano Excel includes various types of coffee, tea, some supplements and a few personal care items (oddly enough). The selling point for all of the products is the presence of Ganoderma lucidum. The company also claims to have its own production facilities and to focus on quality and purity. But, they provide no proof of these aspects.
There are multiple different coffee products, which could help to promote sales. The biggest problem is that they all look low-quality, especially to an American audience. The visual style of the packaging just feels cheap and garish.
The appearance won’t affect the quality of the product. But, it would impact the potential to make sales. People do tend to judge based on appearance first and foremost. This isn’t even the only coffee product that contains Ganoderma lucidum, so you do face significant competition.
The products retail at between $25 and $32 per product, with many of the main ones being on the low end. This averages out to a little over $1 per serving. That’s cheaper than some of the companies that we’ve covered but it’s still expensive instant coffee. Reviews are mostly positive, although many of these may be from distributors rather than customers.
Commission Quick View: Gano Excel operates through a purchase first model. You buy at the affiliate price and then resell. They give an example of buying at $17 and selling at $25, which creates a profit of $8 per box. That’s a decent margin but only if you can sell at that price. You might find yourself tempted to lower the rate and get an edge against competition.
Purchase first is always a risky style, especially for products like these. You risk ending up with excess products that you simply can’t sell. You also need an autoship order of at least $100 per month to get all the bonuses from your team. You’re reselling the product, so the cost is somewhat reasonable. But, it would still add up, especially if sales were slow some months.
Speaking of your team… Gano Excel is another binary model company. You earn up to 15% commission on sales from your weaker team. You can also get some residual income from the number of people you have on autoship, starting from $8.50 for two people and roughly doubling from there.
There are other bonuses too. This should mean the income potential is high but it does make earning money complex. Most of the bonuses require a large team and a decent number of people ordering through autoship. Achieving this in practice would be much harder than the commission plan implies.
Final Thoughts: The purchase first aspect of Gano Excel is a pain, especially as there are many products to choose from. The products themselves aren’t appealing either. You might have a chance if this was the only company selling coffee with Ganoderma lucidum. But, it isn’t.
6. GanoLife
- Focus: Coffee with Ganoderma, along with related products (again).
- Minimum Cost: Was $200 for a starter kit but current costs are unclear.
Product Overview: GanoLife currently seems to have five products. Two of these are coffee, one is cocoa and the other two are sachets that you add to water. Once again, they all focus on Ganoderma lucidum. The site offers very few details about the individual products and the prices are currently around $25 to $30 each.
The main way to purchase is through distributors, although the products can be found on Amazon as well. Reviews are generally positive but it’s hard to know how realistic these are. Even if they are legitimate, you’re still looking at instant coffee with added ingredients. It isn’t very exciting.
Commission Quick View: GanoLife is often included in lists of coffee companies but, they have been through some significant changes. The website isn’t even available in English anymore and it seems like you can only join if you’re in El Salvador or Peru. So, I’m not going to spend much time on what they have to offer.
GanoLife seems to rely on a unilevel compensation plan. This style means that you earn residuals from your team based on who recruited who. Notably, you don’t have two teams that need to balance in terms of performance. The style is inherently simpler and easier to optimise.
The company seems to promote autoship. Under this system, customers pay the company each month and the product is shipped out to them. But, there are few details beyond this about how much you’re likely to earn. The changes also mean that GanoLife won’t be viable for most people or situations.
Final Thoughts: GanoLife was popular once but it seems ineffective now. Even if you could still make money with it in the United States, the products aren’t competitive enough to even bother with.
Top Pick
The most realistic company from this selection has to be Java Momma. It’s the only one where you are selling decent products that don’t rely on hype. The product prices are also realistic, which is nice. Java Momma is also the best choice for beginners, as the risks are much lower and the compensation plan is simpler.
Even so, be wary. Java Momma is a relatively small company and the products aren’t unique. The company may not be reliable in the long-term, especially as there are so many places to buy coffee.
I don’t like network marketing much anyway. But, if you are going to get involved, I’d suggest a different angle. Coffee might be popular but it is too competitive. Most of these companies also just sell instant coffee with added herbs. That’s not likely to appeal to coffee connoisseurs.
One alternative is food companies. These still sell consumable items but they can be more competitive. They also offer a wider range of products to promote. And, of course, there are various coffee affiliate programmes. These give you the chance to make money from coffee, without the complexities of network marketing.