healthy-coffee-USA-logoLaunched in 2008, Healthy Coffee USA operates out of California in the US. As the name suggests, Healthy Coffee USA market what they call ‘healthy coffee’ that comes in a variety of blends which ‘are blended in Malaysia with quality ingredients from different parts of the world‘.

Currently in their fourth year of operation, Healthy Coffee USA (also known as Healthy Coffee International) state that their primary goal is ‘to attain 5 Million Independent Distributors within 10 years‘.

Whilst I’m always weary of membership-orientated goals (a far better goal to be would be to achieve a dollar sales figure), if the company itself has a solid compensation plan and product that people actually want to buy, five million members globally isn’t entirely impossible.

So how does Healthy Coffee USA stack up? Read on for a full review.

The Company

Healthy Coffee USA is headed up by Founder and CEO Rick Aguiluz (photo right).

Aguiluz appears to have cut his MLM teeth in the coffee company Gano Excel. After a number of years working with Gano Excel as a distributor, in 2006 he was promoted to the position of Vice-President of US Sales.

Aguiluz held this position for a few years before abruptly leaving and going off to start his own company Healthy Coffee. I tried to track down the reason for this departure but was unable to find anything concrete on it.

During the time Aguiluz departed Gano Excel though, a number of other key corporate management figures also left the company, most notably Bernie Chua who served as North American company President before quitting to start up yet another coffee based MLM company Organo Gold.

I’ve seen hints that the mass resignation of high level Gano Excel staff might have been something to do with international marketing but again I haven’t been able to confirm explicitly what happened.

Regardless, whatever happened Aguiluz obviously didn’t like the direction Gano Excel was taking at the time, with Healthy Coffee USA appearing to be his attempt to build on his experience in a coffee-based MLM company.

The Healthy Coffee USA Product Line

Healthy Coffee USA market various varieties of “healthy coffee”, primarily featuring two key ingredients, Ginseng and Reishi mushrooms.

Ginseng shouldn’t need an introduction in this day and age (famous Chinese medicinal herb that’s been used for thousands of years) but Reishi mushrooms aren’t something I’m too familiar with.

Reishi mushrooms, also known as ‘Lingzhi mushrooms’,

encompasses several fungal species of the genus Ganoderma, and most commonly refers to the closely related species, Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma tsugae.

It has been used as a medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to have been used medicinally.

Because of lingzhi’s presumed health benefits and apparent absence of side-effects, it has attained a reputation in the East as the ultimate herbal substance.

Using these two key ingredients, Healthy Coffee USA market their coffee under the brand ‘EnerGi. EnerGi comes in black coffee, chai (milk tea), blend (non-dairy creamer and sugar cane), blast (energy drink), choco (instant chocolate) and mocha varieties.

All of Healthy Coffee USA’s products are sold in “pouches” of 20 individual serve sticks. These pouches range in cost from $20 to $28 USD. Bags of tea and coffee powder are also available, ranging in cost from around $45 (1kg Energi Blend) to $128 (500g Energi Black).

The Healthy Coffee USA Compensation Plan

The Healthy Coffee USA compensation plan offers members retail and binary commissions, several bonuses and monthly global pools.

Within the compensation, several commissions are determined by a member’s membership rank. There are twelve membership ranks with Healthy Coffee USA and along with their various required qualifications, they are as follows:

  • Distributor – $29.99 annual membership fee, 20 Personal Business Volume (PBV) a month
  •  Gold – recruit 2 members, 40 PBV and capped at $1000 in earnings a week
  • Platinum – 2,500 enrolled member business volume (EMBV) with no more than 1,250 from any one enroller leg, 40 PBV and capped at $1000 in earnings a week
  • Diamond – 5,000 EMBV (no more than 2,500 from any one enroller leg), 80 PBV and capped at $2500 in earnings a week
  • 1-Star Diamond – 7,500 EMBV (no more than 2,250 from any one enroller leg), 80 PBV and capped at $5000 in earnings a week
  • 2-Star Diamond – 15,000 EMBV (no more than 4,500 from any one enroller leg), 80 PBV and capped at $7,500 in earnings a week
  • 3-Star Diamond – 20,000 EMBV (no more than 6,000 from any one enroller leg), 160 PBV and capped at $10,000 in earnings a week
  • 4-Star Diamond – 50,000 EMBV (no more than 15,000 from any one enroller leg), 160 PBV and capped at $20,000 in earnings a week
  • 5-Star Diamond – 100,000 EMBV (no more than 30,000 from any one enroller leg, 160 PBV and capped at $30,000 in earnings a week
  • 6-Star Diamond – 250,000 EMBV (no more than 75,000 from any one enroller leg, 160 PBV and capped at $60,000 in earnings a week
  • Diamond Ambassador – 500,000 EMBV (no more than 125,000 from any one enroller leg, 160 PBV and capped at $125,000 in earnings a week
  • Global Diamond Ambassador – 1,000,000 EMBV (no more than 200,000 from any one enroller leg, 160 PBV and no cap on weekly earnings

Note that all requirements are monthly unless otherwise specified and Personal Business Volume is sales you make yourself (including self-consumption).

An enroller leg is created when you recruit a new member. They are placed directly under you (your level 1) and any members they recruit form your level 2, any members level 2 recruit become your level 3 and so on and so forth. Each leg operates independently from the others and there is no cap on the number of enroller legs a member can have.

Retail Commissions

Depending on membership level, Healthy Coffee USA pay out up to a 50% retail commission on all retail sales made to customers.

Preferred customer sales (customers to opt in for a minimum $25 a month autoship spend) generate a 35% retail commission.

Fast Start Bonus

Healthy Coffee USA’s Fast Start Bonus is paid out on the purchase of ‘Product Paks’ by new members.

  • Starter Pak ($199) – $50
  • Biz Pak ($499) – $125
  • Pro Pak ($999) – $250
  • RVP Pak ($1499) – $375

Product Pak purchases are optional, however you do need to purchase one yourself to qualify for the Fast Start Bonus upon joining Healthy Coffee USA. Which Product Pak a member purchases dictates the Product Paks sold they can earn the Fast Start Bonus on from.

Members can upgrade their Product Pak commissions level after 28 days from the date of purchase of their last Product Pak.

Upgrade Pak costs are:

  • Starter Pak to Biz Pak upgrade – $50
  • Biz Pak to Pro Pak upgrade – $125
  • Starter Pak to Pro Pak upgrade – $200

Members who join and do not purchase a Fast Start Pak themselves must be at the Platinum membership rank or higher to qualify.

Product Pak sales by members who do not qualify for the Fast Start Bonus have their Bonus generate commissions for the first member in the upline who qualifies to receive the Fast Start Bonus.

Team Building Bonus

Paid out on the same mechanics as the Fast Start Bonus, the Team Building Bonus is an additional commission paid out on the sale of Product Paks.

Depending on the Product Pak purchase (members can only earn on the Product Pak level they themselves purchased or lower), the Team Building Bonus pays out down three levels.

  • Level 1 (members you recruit) – Starter Pak $10, Biz Pak $25, Pro Pak $50, RVP Pak $75
  • Level 2 (members your level 1 recruit) – Starter Pak $5, Biz Pak $15, Pro Pak $30, RVP Pak $30
  • Level 3 (members your level 2 recruit) – Starter Pak $5, Biz Pak $10, Pro Pak $20, RVP Pak $20

Power Team Bonus

If you as a member of Healthy Coffee USA recruit someone who in turn recruits two new members within 7 days of signing up, you earn a $60 Power Team Bonus.

This bonus is split $25 on the two new members recruited and $10 for recruiting the member who signed up the two new members with 7 days of joining.

Binary Commissions

Healthy Coffee USA pay out their residual income using a binary compensation structure. This structure starts with you at the top and branches out into two separate legs underneath you.

Each of these legs continues to branch out and forms your left and right teams. Binary commissions are then earnt on the sales made by these two teams.

As sales are made by both teams, Group Business Volume (GBV) points are earnt and at the end of the month, after an initial 300 GBV matching, each 100 GBV points matched between your left and right team earns you a commission.

This commission is paid out as a percentage of the GBV points matched (1 GBV = $1). What percentage a member earns on the matched points depends on their Healthy Coffee USA membership rank:

  • Distributor – 0% (not qualified for binary commissions)
  • Gold and Platinum – 10%
  • Diamond and 1-Star Diamond – 15%
  • 2-Star Diamond and above – 20%

The minimum amount of recruited members to qualify for binary commissions are two, with the weaker of the two teams needing to pull in a minimum of 300 GBV.

Any left over GBV after matching on the team with more GBV is carried over, whereas leftover GBV on the weaker team is flushed.

Additionally there is also a matching bonus paid out on the binary commissions paid out to members of your binary team up to 9 levels deep. The amount of levels you are paid out on once again depends on your Healthy Coffee USA membership level:

  • 1-Star Diamond – 10-20% on level 1
  • 2-Star Diamond – 10-20% on level 1 and 5% on level 2
  • 3-Star Diamond – 10-20% on level 1, 5% on level 2 and 10% on level 3
  • 4-Star Diamond – 10-20% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 and 3 and 10% on level 4
  • 5-Star Diamond – 10-20% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 4 and 10% on level 5
  • 6-Star Diamond – 10-20% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 5 and 10% on level 6
  • Diamond Ambassador – 10-20% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 6 and 10% on level 7
  • Global Diamond Ambassador – 10-20% on level 1, 5% on levels 2 to 8 and 10% on level 9.

Note that for level 1, the 10% payout is standard however it can be raised to 15% by generating 400 personal business volume (PBV) or the sale of one Biz Pak for that month. To raise the commission to 20%, 800 PBV must be generated or the sale of one Pro Pak for that month.

Car Bonus

Healthy Coffee USA pay out a $750 (4-Star Diamond), $1000 (5-Star Diamond) or $1,500 (6-Star Diamond) monthly Mercedes car bonus for qualifying members.

Membership ranks must be maintained for at least two months before members qualify for the car bonus.

Lifestyle Bonus

The lifestyle bonus is a bonus paid out every three months to members who hold either the Diamond Ambassador ($3000) or Global Diamond Ambassador ($5000) membership ranks for at least three consecutive months.

Rank Advancement Bonus

The Rank Advancement Bonus is a one time bonus paid out to members who hold certain membership ranks for between 4-8 months.

  • maintain 4-Star Diamond for four consecutive months and receive a $10,000 bonus
  • maintain 5-Star Diamond for five consecutive months and receive a $25,000 bonus
  • maintain 6-Star Diamond for six consecutive months and receive a $50,000 bonus
  • maintain Diamond Ambassador for seven consecutive months and receive a $100,000 bonus
  • maintain Global Diamond Ambassador for eight consecutive months and receive a $200,000 bonus

Global Bonus Pool

Healthy Coffee USA have three bonus pools available to qualifying members:

  • Mentoring Global Bonus Pool – 1-Star Diamond, 2-Star Diamond and 3-Star Diamond members
  • Leadership Global Bonus Pool – 4-Star Diamond, 5-Star Diamond and 6-Star Diamond members
  • Ambassador Global Bonus Pool – Diamond Ambassador and Global Diamond Ambassador

Each of the Global Bonus Pools are made up of 1% of Healthy Coffee USA’s global commissionable volume.

Shares in each of the pools are allocated using a unilevel compensation structure. This structure places you at the top and any members you recruit are placed directly underneath you in a separate lineage tree. For each lineage tree that has a Diamond or higher qualified member, one share is earnt in the applicable Global Bonus Pool.

Joining Healthy Coffee USA

Membership to Healthy Coffee USA is either $29.99 a year (backoffice access etc.) or free with the purchase of a Product Pak (Starter Pak $199, Biz Pak $499, Pro Pak $999 or the RVP Pak $1499).

The purchase of a Product Pak includes a year worth of backoffice access, but after the first twelve months have expired members will then need to pay $29.99 a year.

Conclusion

If we break down the Healthy Coffee USA compensation plan there’s a clear incentive to sign up, purchase a Product Pak (preferably the $999 Pro Pak) and then get out there and sign others up under the same Pak purchase.

Members are capped on the Pak sales they can earn a commission on based on which Pak they purchase themselves.

This of course will only get you so far though and long-term the residual income is firmly rooted in sales of Healthy Coffee USA’s products. The Global Diamond Ambassador membership level has a 12 new member recruitment requirement but also needs a million business volume points a month to be made.

Looking at Healthy Coffee USA’s relatively low product prices, it’s not realistic to suggest this is going to be achieved via recruiting members and placing them on autoship for a hundred dollars or so ($20-$160 a month).

Sales wise at $20-$28 a box Healthy Coffee USA’s 20 sachet “pouches” shouldn’t be too difficult to sell but do take note of the competition in your area first. A good place to start would be the local supermarket.

Also factor in that regardless of how well the product sells or tastes, once large business expense for any Healthy Coffee USA member is going to be the purchase of product to give to people as samples.

In the long-term if you don’t manage to convert enough of these sample giveaways into sales or the recruitment of new Healthy Coffee USA members, you might find your sample purchases outweighing your commissions.

With Product Paks able to be purchased after you’ve joined the company though, it’s safe enough to think about testing the waters signing up a distributor for $29.99 and seeing if you can actually sell Healthy Coffee USA’s products.

If you’ve got a few hundred to invest in sample products, see how you go for a month or two as a Distributor and then decide if you want to purchase a Product Pak and step up your marketing efforts and membership with the company.