ForeverGreen Review: Marine Phytoplankton?

ForeverGreen launched in 2004 and are based out of Utah in the US.

Additionally the company has several branch offices, located in Mexico, Columbia, Singapore, Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

Heading up ForeverGreen is Founder, CEO and Chairman, Ron Williams (right). According to William’s ForeverGreen corporate bio, he has had ‘25 Years of success in the Industry‘ and involvement in Nuskin (1980s), Neways (1992-1997 as Vice-President of Sales and Marketing), Young Living Essential Oils (1997-1998 as a Senior Executive) and Brain Garden (health and nutrition).

Ron Williams launched Brain Garden in 1998, however the company was sold a few years later with Williams going on to launch ForeverGreen in 2004. In 2006 ForeverGreen purchased Brain Garden, integrating the business into ForeverGreen’s operations.

Read on for a full review of the ForeverGreen MLM business opportunity.

The ForeverGreen Product Line

ForeverGreen provides timeless health answers by offering four brands that altogether include an extensive line of clean and/or organic whole foods, nutritional whole-food beverages, chemical-free personal care and household items, and safe weight management solutions.

As above, ForeverGreen market a range of products within the health and nutrition MLM niche. These include:

 

• FrequenSea – a “marine phytoplankton” based beverage
• Azul – a marine phytoplankton, maqui berry, acai berry and coconut based beverage
• Fixx – an ‘organic, chocolate meal-replacement shake‘
• Thunder – a ‘24 Karat Chocolate meal replacement shake‘
• Smart Saltz – impurity-free table salt
• Electrifire – a plant concentrate based energy drink

Other products marketed by ForeverGreen cover weight-loss, “immunity intelligence”, the heart and cardiovascular system, phytoplankton based dietary supplements, hunger management, essential oils, “organic and clean” raw foods (fruits, nuts, seeds, tubers and grains), dark chocolate, hemp seed concentrate and personal care.

Unfortunately I could not find any retail prices publicly provided for any of ForeverGreen’s product range.

The ForeverGreen Compensation Plan

ForeverGreen’s compensation plan offers a series of upfront bonuses, backed by residual commissions using a unilevel compensation structure. Two bonus pools are also offered to affiliates who have reached the upper tiers of the company’s affiliate promotion ranks.

Fast Start Bonus

When a ForeverGreen affiliate recruits a new affiliate, they are paid a 20% commission on the first product order made by that affiliate.

In order to qualify for the Fast Start Bonus, a ForeverGreen affiliate must have an autoship order of at least 150 Business Volume (BV) points.

All-In Bonus

When an affiliate purchases an “All-In Pack” ($999.95) and creates a monthly autoship order of at least 150 BV, they qualify themselves for the All-In Bonus.

The All-In Bonus pays up five levels of affiliate recruitment, starting with the affiliate who recruited the new All-In Pack purchasing affiliate:

• Personal recruiter (level 1) – 20%
• Level 2 affiliate upline – 8%
• Level 3 affiliate upline – 5%
• Level 4 affiliate upline – 4%
• Level 5 affiliate upline – 5%

Note that the purchase of All-In packs do not qualify under the Fast Start Bonus.

Professional Bonus

After a ForeverGreen affiliate’s first 30 days with the company, each month they sell over 300 BV worth of product they qualify for the Professional Bonus.

The Professional Bonus is paid out as a 25% of all BV sold above an affiliate’s initial 200 BV for that month.

Unilevel Commissions

Unilevel commissions in ForeverGreen are paid out via a unilevel compensation structure. A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1). Each of these level 1 affiliate forms the beginning of an individual unlevel leg.

If any of these level 1 affiliates go on to recruit new affiliates of their own, they are then placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team. If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretically unlimited number of levels.

Note that each unilevel leg grows and forms independently of the others.

Typically in a unilevel compensation structure commissions are paid out down a set number of levels, whereas in ForeverGreen they are paid out based on generations.

A generation in ForeverGreen is defined when an affiliate of “Learning” or higher rank is found in any individual unilevel leg.

How many generations a ForeverGreen affiliate is paid out on depends on their affiliate membership rank as follows:

• Apprentice (150 PV and at least 100 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates each month) – 5% on the first generation
• Learning (150 PV and at least 450 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates each month) – 10% on the first generation until  another Learning or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Determined (150 PV and at least 600 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates each month) – 10% on the first generation and 4% on the second generation until another Determined or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Successful  (150 PV and at least 900 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates each month) – 10% on the first generation, 4% on the second generation and 2.5% on the third generation until another Successful or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Leader  (150 PV and at least 1200 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates each month) – 10% on the first generation, 4% on the second generation, 2.5% on the third generation and 2% on the fourth generation until another Leader or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Team Leader (150 PV, at least 1500 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates and 10,000 GV total downline monthly volume) – 10% on the first generation, 4% on the second generation, 2.5% on the third generation, 2% on the fourth generation and 1.5% on the fifth generation until another Team Leader or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• MVP (150 PV, at least 1500 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates and 20,000 GV total downline monthly volume) – 10% on the first generation, 4% on the second generation, 2.5% on the third generation, 2% on the fourth generation, 1.5% on the fifth generation and 1.5% on the sixth generation until another MVP or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Hall of Fame (150 PV, at least 1500 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates and 100,000 GV total downline monthly volume) – 10% on the first generation, 4% on the second generation, 2.5% on the third generation, 2% on the fourth generation, 1.5% on the fifth generation, 1.5% on the sixth generation and 1% on the seventh generation until another Hall of Fame or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Free –  (150 PV, at least 1500 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates and 250,000 GV total downline monthly volume) – same as MVP affiliates
• Rainmaker (150 PV, at least 1500 GV being generated by personally recruited affiliates and 500,000 GV total downline monthly volume) – same as MVP affiliates

Note that if an affiliate generates 200 PV a month instead of 150 PV at the Learning affiliate rank or higher, the generation percentage commission raises as follows:

• Learning – 20% on the first generation until  another Learning or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Determined – 20% on the first generation and 8% on the second generation until another Determined or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Successful – 20% on the first generation, 8% on the second generation and 5% on the third generation until another Successful or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Leader – 20% on the first generation, 8% on the second generation, 5% on the third generation and 4% on the fourth generation until another Leader or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Team Leader – 20% on the first generation, 8% on the second generation, 5% on the third generation, 4% on the fourth generation and 2% on the fifth generation until another Team Leader or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• MVP – 20% on the first generation, 8% on the second generation, 5% on the third generation, 4% on the fourth generation, 2% on the fifth generation and 2% on the sixth generation until another MVP or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg
• Hall of Fame and higher – 20% on the first generation, 8% on the second generation, 5% on the third generation, 4% on the fourth generation, 2% on the fifth generation, 2% on the sixth generation and 2% on the seventh generation until another Hall of Fame or higher ranked affiliate is found in each leg

Note that from the Team Leader affiliate rank, no more than 49% of an affiliate’s total qualifying GV can come from any one individual unilevel leg.

MVP Pool

The MVP Pool is made up of 2% of ForeverGreen’s company wide sales volume and is paid out to qualifying MVP affiliates via shares.

How many shares MVP affiliates qualify for is determined by their Group Volume as follows:

• 20,000 GV = 1 share
• 40,000 GV = 2 shares
• 60,000 GV = 3 shares

Note that no more than 49% of an affiliate’s total qualifying GV can come from any one individual unilevel leg.

Worldwide Infinity Pool

The ForeverGreen Infinity Pool is made up of 6% of the company’s global sales volume. Shares are allocated in the Worldwide Infinity Pool based on an affiliate’s own membership rank and that of their downlines.

• 20K MVP – each 20K MVP affiliate in a unilevel leg  equals 1 share
• 40K MVP – each 40K MVP affiliate in a unilevel leg equals 2 shares
• 60K MVP – each 60K MVP affiliate in a unilevel leg equals 3 shares
• Hall of Fame affiliate – 4 shares for personally qualifying as a Hall of Fame affiliate and 4 shares per Hall of Fame affiliate in an individual unilevel leg
• Free affiliate – 5 shares for personally qualifying as a Free affiliate and 5 shares per Free affiliate in an individual unilevel leg
• Rainmaker – 6 shares for personally qualifying as a Rainmaker affiliate and 6 shares per Rainmaker affiliate in an individual unilevel leg

Note that only one ranked affiliate is counted in each unilevel leg for all 20K MVP to Free ranked affiliates. Rainmaker affiliates however can earn shares on up to five ranked affiliates in each individual unilevel leg.

Joining ForeverGreen

Basic affiliate membership to ForeverGreen is free.

The purchase of an “All-In Pack” however is required for participation in the All-In Bonus component of the compensation plan. This purchase is entirely optional but should be considered as the maximum potential cost of entry for new ForeverGreen affiliates.

Other packs are available ranging in price from $167.95 to $299.95.

A potential affiliate should also take into consideration the monthly minimum autoship order of 150BV (which will typically translate over into $150), as an ongoing monthly cost.

Conclusion

On the retail side of things, apart from the performance bonus offered (which counts all volume, not just retail), there’s little to no incentive for ForeverGreen affiliates to focus on selling products to retail customers.

This leaves us with a hugely slanted compensation plan that is obviously geared towards the recruitment of new affiliates and placement of monthly autoship orders.

It starts with the requirement for a 150 BV order to qualify affiliates for the Fast Start and All-In Bonus.

The Fast Start Bonus pays out on the first order made by a newly recruited affiliate, with a 150 Personal Volume (PV) autoship order acting as qualification for the bonus.

Naturally this will be used as a selling point for those recruited, resulting in pressure to signup themselves on a monthly 150 PV autoship.

Later this is likely to be increased to a 200 PV as unilevel commissions increase by up to 200% on the relatively small 50 PV autoship increase.

Then there’s the All-In Bonus, which pays an upfront 20% commission on a newly recruited affiliates $999.95 spend. How do you get them to spend that much?

Tell them they too can earn the bonus if they sign up for a 150 PV monthly autoship, they just have to recruit new affiliates who also spend $999.95.

Contrast this with the lack of retail focus (no retail sales criteria is required to be met in affiliate rank promotion or anywhere else in the compensation plan), and you’re left with a company that’s likely to be affiliate top-heavy.

Even without the All-In Bonus and purchase of a $999.95 pack, affiliate membership is free – leading to the obvious lead-in with the business opportunity over retail (“it doesn’t cost anything to sign up and make money!”).

As a prospective ForeverGreen affiliate I’d be paying particular attention to how I was approached about the business.

Ask a question about the ForeerGreen’s products, or does the person who approached you know what they’re marketing or are they just looking to sign up you as an affiliate on monthly autoship?

One approach could be to try ForeverGreen’s products out as a retail customer (non-affiliate) and observe if there’s any pressure from the affiliate you purchased off to join as an affiliate.

Any pressure on their side most likely would reveal a focus on affiliate autoship recruitment should you yourself go on to join ForeverGreen as an affiliate.

On the flipside, I thought the unilevel was interesting with it being the first entirely generation based unilevel comp plan I’ve come across.

Not sure if that would play out to a disadvantage with the bigger teams (as you’re likely to have ranked affiliates higher up in each leg) over a traditional level based payout structure, but it’s an interesting change nonetheless (and perhaps something that could be discussed with a potential upline to ascertain their understanding of the business).

All in all, despite the interesting generational unilevel payout structure I don’t think there’s going to be enough retail activity within ForeverGreen to make it viable in the long-term.

Going off how the compensation plan is structured I’d be confident suggesting that the majority of ForeverGreen’s revenue is affiliate-sourced, with a great deal of that being monthly autoship orders.

With autoship being tied into commission qualification, that raises the question of the motive behind the monthly purchase.

Affiliates buying a monthly minimum order each month just to qualify themselves to receive commissions is not how you want to build a longevity-orientated sustainable MLM company.

 

Update 4th May 2023 – ForeverGreen appears to have shut down and/or collapsed. At the time of this update, ForeverGreen’s website has been disabled.

ForeverGreen’s official Twitter account was abandoned in 2018. The company’s official FaceBook account has also been deleted.

I couldn’t find an official statement from the company so I’m not publishing a separate article covering the collapse/closure.