Today the internmet is rife with Multi Level Marketing (MLM) schemes and seeming great ways to make money online at first glance. The truth? The majority are just too good to be true!
Within this full Valentus coffee review we take an in-depth look at the Valentus coffee MLM programme and the products they provide. I then dive deeper into their business model to provide you with all the information you need before deciding if you want to work with them or even buy their supposed “magic” coffee.
First of all, I must say you’ve came to the right place to find some in-depth information surrounding the company and you’re on the right path for avoiding scams and finding some real methods of making money online that actually WORK!
I am in no way linked to Valentus coffee in any form and I am writing this review with the aim of pure education to help people avoid the massive amount of scams and unethical companies that are sprouting up everywhere on the internet today.
So before you read on you can be sure that i am not here to pitch or sell you anything and I am only here to inform you with my personal opinion of Valentus. So lets not waste anymore of your time and get straight into this review of Valentus coffee and the surrounding company.
What is an MLM?
I am assuming you have found yourself on this page as you are considering signing up to work for Valentus or are interested in their products and are looking for some more information before you make a final decision.
The thing about multi level marketing schemes is that most people don’t even realise what they are getting themselves into and most won’t even know what an MLM programme actually is so i’ll begin by giving you a brief overview of what MLM actually is.
Multi Level Marketing companies take advantage of a hierarchical structure where usually only the top level members see any sizeable income for their efforts. Within these type of schemes members are encouraged to recruit new distributors where they will receive a percentage income on any sales the recruited individual makes.
Distributors also have the opportunity to make money from marketing and distributing the companies products which in this case is mainly the Valentus slimroast coffee. This is where MLMS marginally differs from pyramid schemes but aspects of unethical practice still linger.
Many MLMs find themselves under investigation from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and many find themselves closed down due to their shady business practices.
That’s not to say that all MLMS are complete and utter scams because this is far from the case. Today there is a select few companies that operate under a MLM business model but actually offer legitimate products where many people can earn sizeable incomes if operated correctly. But is Valentus one of these? Well you’ll just need to read on and find out.
Valentus Background
Valentus is an MLM or multi-level-marketing company that operate under the health and wellness niche. They mainly market and sell nutrition supplements which are most likely drinks but there main focus seems to be on their “Slimroast Coffee”.
The homepage features bold claims such as “manage weight with the healthiest coffee on the planet and “unlock the secret of weight management with the slimroast optimum in your cup”.
But how true are these claims? Well that’s something we’ll get into further through this post but i highly doubt there will be evidence to back up these bold claims.
Valentus was founded in 2014 by Dave Jordan and since then have built up a massive team of marketers who seem to mainly use Facebook for promoting their products and hiring new individuals.
The sales videos seem to be well made and at first glance I can understand why so many people can get sucked into MLM programmes and truly believe they are 100% legit.
The sales videos are used to inform people of the supposed benefits of drinking only one cup of their coffee per day. Within one of these videos there is a testimonial from one of their employees who claims to be earning nearly 5 figures per month by selling Valentus products and recruiting new individuals to gain compensation from their sales.
On the surface this all seems great but the truth is this is that this can be used as a blanket to cover up the truth that not many people will actually make money.
For all we know this testimonial could be completely faked to help lure in new members to the sales team but let’s just believe that this is the complete truth and the individual is making this amount of money per month.
If this is the case it is very likely that this member is within the top tiers of this MLM programme where this amount of money is definitely possible. But unfortunately for new members this number is near impossible to reach.
All in all, it seems that Valentus is your typical MLM company that looks to exploit other individuals to earn money for people within the top tiers of the company and we can say this without discussing if people can actually lose weight with their coffee.
So to do this we’ll take a look at the Valentus weight loss coffee to see if their claims are scientifically possible.
Does the Product work?
So lets take a look at the main product Valentus promotes to see if their bold claims of weight management are actually possible with drinking one cup of their coffee per day. Seems too good to be true don’t you think?
Valentus really seem to hold their coffee in high regard and promote all their four coffee products as having the following similar benefits;
- Natural Ingredients to support appetite and cravings
- Support the body’s own natural sugar levels
- Support fat metabolism
- Support for brain health and focus
- May elevate mood
- Antioxidant
If you pay close attention you will notice that these claims are accompanied by an asterisk and after some scrolling to the bottom of the page you can find this message;
“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administrations. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any Disease. Results not typical and may vary.”
I’m not sure about you but that would definitely start ringing alarm bells for myself. But then again this might not put everybody off and I can understand why people buy into their bold claims of an easy method for guaranteed weight loss.
The bottom line is they are selling people a false dream. It is extremely extremely unlikely that anyone will start to see significant weight loss by drinking one cup of this coffee per day without any other lifestyle changes but I suppose people are always looking for an easy way out.
Ingredients Debunked
Disclaimer; I am in no way a nutrition specialist and have conducted research into each ingredient so to the best of my knowledge all information here is factual.
All of the four coffee blends sold by Valentus have slightly different ingredients list but for the purpose of this review we will focus on the “SLIMROAST Italian Dark Roast Coffee” to give you an idea of how much scientific evidence is present in providing the results that Valentus claim you will see after one cup of coffee per day. I’ve broken down some of the key ingredients below;
Non-GMO Dark Roast Instant Coffee – Of course coffee is the main ingredient within the blend and the “Non-GMO” refers to the fact that the coffee is not genetically modified.
Research by dailycoffeenews.com into the “Non-GMO” tag found that companies use the Non-GMO to appeal to consumers and to try and create the feeling of an organic product.
The truth is that there is actually no evidence that genetically modified coffee is being cultivated for commercial use so basically all coffee is Non-GMO.
In terms of the claims made by Valentus to the benefits of their coffee, can coffee contribute to any of the benefits? Well yes in this case it actually can.
As most people know coffee and it’s caffeine promotes central nervous system stimulation and can help you feel more alert and awake.
Studies have actually shown that chlorogenic acids within coffee can help to control appetite and suppress hunger and the antioxidants found within coffee have been linked to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, liver disease and Alzheimer’s.
So the coffee found within the Valentus blend can actually marginally helps towards 4 of the six benefits presented by Valentus in an effort to sell their coffee.
But what about the other ingredients?
Would you not just be better drinking one cup of normal coffee?
Well lets take a look at the other ingredients.
Green Coffee Bean Extract -This extract is unsurprisingly taken from green coffee beans and contains an ingredient called chlorgenic acid. Valentus claims that this ingredient acts as a thermogenic fat burner but is there any scientific evidence behind this?
There has been many studies into the effects of green coffee bean extracts on weight loss but i have failed to find any with concrete evidence that green coffee bean extract aids in weight loss in humans. A study using rats indicated that this ingredient aids in weight reduction with consistent.
One study also utilised 30 overweight human subjects for a period of 12 weeks where half were given instant coffee with green coffee extract to drink daily and the other half consumed normal instant coffee daily. Over 30 weeks the green coffee extract lost 11.9 pounds between them.
So does this show that this ingredient works? Well not exactly, first of all the weight loss between subjects was marginal and most of the studies were funded by industries who sell green coffee bean extract so we need to be sceptical about these results.
Garcina Cambogia Extract – Is taken from a tropical fruit called “Malabar Tamarind” and is meant to help block the body’s ability to make fat and suppress appetite. Once again this is another ingredient that has bold claims but very little evidence to suggest it is great at aiding in weight loss.
The active ingredient “hydroxycitic acid” appears to block and enzyme called citrase lyase which our bodies use to make fat. It is also said to raise levels of serotonin in the brain marginally which can help you feel less hungry.
However, a review published in the journal of obesity found that people consuming this ingredient only lost about 2 pounds more than people who didn’t take it. So the claims are bold but the results may not be.
Phaseolamine Extract – This ingredient is made from white kidney beans and is said to acts as a proteinaceous inhibitor of alpha-amaylse. In simple terms this basically means that it might reduce the absorption of carbohydrates which equals fewer calories. If these fewer calories take you into a calorie deficit then you will start to lose weight.
A few studies have indicated that this ingredient might actually play a role in weight reduction so at least there is one positive here.
Green Tea Extract – This ingredient has also gained lots of attention for it’s supposed health benefits and it’s role in fat loss. There is no concrete evidence to suggest that green tea extract will have a large impact on weight reduction and most studies once again have been done on mice and not humans so it is really hard to tell.
Verdict
So I’m sure you now want to know, does drinking one cup of this coffee actually help you to lose weight? The simple answer is no probably not.
That’s not to say that the coffee might work for some people but on a large scale most people will probably fail to see any reductions in weight.
The major benefits provided actually come from the coffee and caffeine content themselves so basically if you have one cup of normal coffee day you could see near enough the same affects at a fraction of the cost.
The added carb blocker may also help slightly but as for the ingredients they most likely won’t help that much at all.
So in terms of the claims made by the company? Well yes they are not outright lies but the results you can expect to see will not be anywhere near the results you would expect by reading through their website and watching the promotion videos.
So the final verdict? Avoid these products.
Customer Reviews
The high amount of hype built up by Valentus marketing can be shot down by the mixed reviews reviews across various platforms.
Reviews on amazon suggest that the coffee blend is extremely expensive and has done nothing in terms of weight loss for the majority of people.
From this you can see that Valentus is probably an MLM you want to be avoiding. If the products are no good how can you expect to earn money selling them?
I have brought together some reviews from a few sources to give you an idea of the overall view existing Valentus customers have on the product.
Another thing to be wary of though is the fact that in MLM programmes people are trying to recruit people to work for them and sell the product.
This could then lead to a lot of falsified results and reviews to try and entice people to sign up to work for you or buy the coffee product.
The majority of reviews i can find online are generally of this negative format with the exception of a few positive reviews here and there;
Some people still rate this product highly but are they promoting the product themselves? We will never know;
How can you make money with Valentus?
As I’ve stated previously Valentus is a Multi Level Marketing programme that allows distributors to join the company to promote their various health and wellness products – mainly coffee- and members can earn money through direct sales to customers and also by recruiting new members where commissions are earned for every sale they make.
Like all MLM schemes Valentus claim to have the best possible opportunity for new members to earn money but as usual this is usually far from the case. Valentus claim to have the “ultimate compensation plan” with an “unparalleled” structure. Well lets take a look then;
The retail commission of 25% is rather typical for the MLM industry so it’s hard to see anything special and unparalleled here. This basically means for every sale that you make you will receive 25%.
As i said this is about average for the industry and considering the products Valentus offer aren’t great it’s going to be rather difficult to see large volumes to really see any decent returns but it definitely could be done if you really wanted to.
To gain access to Valentus you’re going to need to pay a one off fee of $20 which is a one time activation fee for entering “back-office”, basically a log in to there website features.
Purchasing products
Once you’ve paid the one off fee of $20 you are going to need to purchase the products you are going to be selling which also comes with a Business Volume (BV) value which is used to track the amount of sales you are making. The cost of each plan can be shown in the table below taken straight from the Valentus compensation plan document;
So from this the minimal amount you will need to begin marketing and selling products is around $70. For a lot of people this is a substantial amount of money that could result in no returns if you fails to make any sales. In order to ensure you are meeting the minimal 50 BV to purchase products you are going to need to be selling at least one box every month. If you fail to make any sales you are going to have to purchase another box every month to keep your BV at 50 or above and keep earning commissions. Not great right?
This only take into consideration the base level which only allows you to act as an independent representative and earn money yourself. If you are looking to start building a team to earn from their sales you are going to need to have a minimal BV of 100 and guess what? That’s not cheap at all at $150 for 3 boxes.
That is a fairly big risk to be taking especially if your are struggling to make consistent sales and more than likely this will be the case due to the range of below average products.
As you can see for the chance to start making any substantial cash you are going to need to recruit a large team who are all also successful. This is extremely difficult as the act of marketing and selling products such as this in a saturated market is actually extremely difficult.
Team Building
Like most MLM programmes Valentus focuses on one key thing; team building. This makes sense as the larger your team the more income potential you are going to have, if everyone is successful and making sales of course. The team building structure generally will look something like this;
Building a team such as this is possible but you will need to make considerable progress to see any major benefits. To build a team you are going to have to convince friends and family that the product you are selling is legit and there is money to be made. This is where it will start to get challenging with the products offered by Valentus.
To help put this into perspective of how successful you will need to be to see returns we can look at the various ranks within the company;
If you are looking for a more in-depth look into the compensation plan offered by Valentus you can have a read at there full compensation document in full. Personally this is something I would be avoiding as there is definitely better methods for earning money online but i’ll tell you more about them soon.
Final Verdict
As you can see the MLM programme of Valentus is far the amazing opportunity they make it out to be.
Like all other MLM schemes the main objective will be to recruit other members while trying to sell products yourself. In this case unfortunately the products are going to far from sell themselves.
In that sense you may find yourself having to lie or operate under and unethical business model in order to make substantial sales. For me this is something i’d be avoiding heavily.
That being said it is not completely impossible to earn money with Valentus, is you have a large social circle of easily influenced people then you may be able to just scrape your way up the ladder into some of the higher earning ranks.
Personally i believe there is far more lucrative methods for making money online that actually take smaller start-up costs and very little risk. Would you like to hear how myself and many other people make money online?
Try this method for making money online
As you can probably see I am not a fan of MLM programmes and believe they sell people a dream that is very very difficult to turn into reality. That is why i have set out to inform individuals on the struggles that can be faced with MLM and also to help point people in the right direction of earning some ethical and passive income online.
Well what is it? Affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing allows you to market products you believe in on a website you can easily set up in minutes where you will gain commissions for everyone who purchases a product through your website.
This means you won’t need to try and market shady and below average products in order to make any money.
You will also not need to recruit anyone to earn money and it require much less investment to start up and actually it can become relatively easy if you are willing to put in some effort every week.
Interested? Of course you are, you would be mad not to be.
If you are interested in learning how to start affiliate marketing and are looking for a step-by-step guide with all the tools and website hosting you are going to need then i highly suggest you consider signing up to Wealthy Affiliate the world leading affiliate marketing training platform.
If you are looking for some more information then feel free to read my review on the full Wealthy Affiliate package.
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