BehindMLM first reviewed Zinzino in 2013. Back then the company was primarily focused on Europe and marketed a coffee pod system.

Europe is still Zinzino’s care market but since 2013 the company has expanded to include nutritional supplements.

On the management side of things Zinzino is still headed up by CEO Bergheim Pettersen (right).

Around April 2017 a reader reached out and requested a Zinzino review update.

Unfortunately at the time Zinzino did not provide a copy of their compensation plan and I was unable to locate one otherwise.

Earlier this month another reader requested a review update, and provided me with a copy of Zinzino’s updated compensation plan.

Read on for an updated review of the Zinzino MLM opportunity.

Zinzino’s Products

Zinzino appear to have done a complete 180 with respect to coffee and no longer market it.

Instead the company offers a range of supplements targeting nutrition, personal care and weight loss.

  • BalanceOil AquaX – “helps to increase the omega-3 essential fatty acid levels in your body (and) adjust your omega 6:3 ratio to optimal levels in just 120 days” (contains Aquacelle, an emulsifier to mask fish oil flavor and texture), retails at $65 for a 300 ml bottle
  • BalanceOil Orange/Lemon/Mint – same as the AquaX variety (minus emulsifier) with “healthy and optimal eye, heart, brain and immune function” support, retails at $65 for a 300 ml bottle
  • BalanceOil Vegan – BalanceOil “contains marine micro-algae oil combined with an extra high polyphenol content, olive oil and echium seed oil”, retails at $69 for a 200 ml bottle
  • Balance Test – a “dry blood-spot test for home sample collection”, retails at $169
  • Balance Capsules – “BalanceOil, conveniently packaged in capsules”, retails at $49 for a bottle of 120 capsules
  • Skin Serum – “protect, repair & rebuild your skins extracellular matrix – ECM”, retails at $78 for a 30 ml bottle or $99 for a 50 ml bottle
  • Xtend – “protect, maintain and renew your cells and tissues”, retails at $69 for two boxes of 60 tablets each
  • Viva – “a dietary supplement that supports your general wellbeing in several ways”, retails at $29 for a box of 60 tablets
  • Protect – “contains an effective vegan vitamin D3 that boosts the immune system and a specialized and standardized 1,3/1,6 beta-glucans derived from baker’s yeast”, retails at $59 for a box of 60 tablets
  • LeanShake – “a delicious and healthy meal replacement for weight control”, retails at $104 for a 960g pouch
  • ZinoBioatic Fiber Blend – “a tailored blend of 5 natural dietary fibers”, retails at $44 a tub

Zinzino products are also offered in various six-month autoship bundles.

The Zinzino Compensation Plan

The Zinzino compensation plan rewards affiliates for selling products to retail customers.

Commissions and bonuses are tracked via credits, which are converted to pay points at a rate of $1.35 each.

Credits

Zinzino refers to sales volume as “credits”.

All Zinzino products carry a ”credit” value standardized across countries and currencies.

Zinzino uses credits as an internal currency to … calculate commissions and bonuses in the compensation plan.

Unfortunately credit values for Zinzino products are not disclosed on their website.

For commission calculation, in the US 1 credit is paid out at a fixed $1.35 exchange rate.

Globally Zinzino pays credits out as commissions at a rate between $1.15 to $1.48 USD.

MLM Commission Qualification

Zinzino affiliates qualify for MLM commissions by generating 20 credits over their first three months.

From the fourth month onward an affiliate must generate at least 20 credits a month as well as 4 Customer Points.

Customer Points are generated via retail customer orders:

  • a retail customer with a minimum 3 credit autoship order generates 1 Customer Point
  • additional 3 credit or more retail product orders generate one Customer Point each

Generated Customer Points are valid for ninety days.

If a Zinzino affiliate doesn’t generate Customer Points via the above criteria, they can still earn one Customer Point if the sum total of their retail customer orders is 3 credits or more over a rolling ninety day period.

Zinzino Affiliate Ranks

There are twenty fixed ranks within the Zinzino compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  • Sales Rep – sign up as a Zinzino affiliate (not qualified for MLM commissions)
  • Bronze – generate and maintain 4 Customer Points (20 credits in total) a month
  • Silver – generate and maintain at least 750 credits a month across your downline
  • Gold – generate and maintain at least 1500 credits a month across your downline
  • Executive – generate and maintain at least 3000 credits a month across your downline
  • Platinum – generate and maintain at least 6000 credits a month across your downline
  • Diamond – generate and maintain at least 12,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Director – generate and maintain at least 24,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Crown – generate and maintain at least 48,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Royal Crown – generate and maintain at least 80,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Black Crown – generate and maintain at least 130,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Ambassador – qualify for two income centers with at least 10,000 in monthly credit volume, and generate at least 150,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Royal Ambassador – maintain two income centers generating at least 20,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 200,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Black Ambassador – maintain two income centers generating at least 30,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 250,000 credits a month across your downline
  • President – qualify for three income centers generating at least 40,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 300,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Elite President – maintain three income centers generating at least 80,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 500,000 credits a month across your downline
  • Global President – maintain three income centers generating at least 130,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 1,000,000 credits a month across your downline
  • 1 Star Global President – qualify for four income centers generating at least 130,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 2,000,000 credits a month across your downline
  • 2 Star Global President – qualify for five income centers generating at least 130,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 3,000,000 credits a month across your downline
  • 3 Star Global President – qualify for six income centers generating at least 130,000 credits a month each, and generate at least 4,000,000 credits a month across your downline

Beyond 3 Star Global President an additional “Star” rank is awarded per

  1. new income center qualified for that generates 130,000 in credit volume a month and
  2. a total increase of 1,000,000 a month in total downline credit volume

Note that product order credit requirements can include an affiliate’s own purchases and that of recruited affiliates.

Also note that for the purpose of qualification, Zinzino uses a binary team compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):

The first level of the binary team houses two positions. The second level of the binary team is generated by splitting these first two positions into another two positions each (4 positions).

Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated as required, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.

Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of affiliates. Note there is no limit to how deep a binary team can grow.

For rank qualification, no more than 66.6% of credits can come from one side of the binary team.

Retail Commissions

Zinzino affiliates earn a commission on the sale of products to retail customers.

The Zinzino compensation plan states retail commissions range from 10% to 50%.

A one-time 10% Cash Bonus is paid when retail customers sign up for an autoship order.

Residual Commissions

Zinzino pay residual commissions via a binary compensation structure.

For an explanation of a binary compensation structure, refer to “Zinzino Affiliate Ranks” above.

Using a two-sided binary compensation structure, Zinzino track generated credits as follows:

  • Bronze affiliates receive 7.5% of binary team credit volume
  • 150 credits per earned income center and 11 recruited affiliates to 300 credits per earned income center and 22 recruited affiliates = same 7.5% residual commission rate
  • 500 credits per earned income center and 50 recruited affiliates to 2000 credits per earned income center and 200 recruited affiliates = 10% residual commission rate
  • 3000 credits per earned income center and 450 recruited affiliates (and higher) = 15% residual commission rate

Multiple Income Centers

Zinzino reward affiliates who sign up with an autoship order with three binary team positions.

Customer Acquisition Bonus

The Customer Acquisition Bonus is based on weekly credits generated across the binary team from new retail and recruited affiliate autoship orders.

  • Small (500 credits in autoship volume on both sides of the binary team) = $270 CAB
  • Medium (1500 credits in autoship volume on both sides of the binary team) = $540 CAB
  • Large (3500 credits in autoship volume on both sides of the binary team) = $810 CAB
  • XL (7500 credits in autoship volume on both sides of the binary team) = $1350 CAB
  • XXL (15,000 credits in autoship volume on both sides of the binary team) = $20,250 CAB

Remember that the CAB is qualified for and calculated based on weekly binary team autoship volume.

Volume Bonus

The Volume Bonus rewards Crown and higher ranked Zinzino affiliates with a bonus on downline credit volume.

  • Crowns receive a 1% Volume Bonus on up to 25,000 credits per income center
  • Royal Crowns receive a 1.5% Volume Bonus on up to 50,000 credits per income center
  • Black Crowns receive a 2% Volume Bonus on up to 75,000 credits per income center
  • Ambassadors receive a 2.25% Volume Bonus on up to 100,000 credits per income center
  • Royal Ambassadors receive a 2.5% Volume Bonus on up to 125,000 credits per income center
  • Black Ambassadors receive a 2.75% Volume Bonus on up to 150,000 credits per income center
  • Presidents receive a 3% Volume Bonus on up to 200,000 credits
  • Elite Presidents receive a 3.5% Volume Bonus on up to 300,000 credits per income center
  • Global Presidents receive a 4% Volume Bonus on up to 400,000 credits per income center
  • 1 Star Global Presidents and higher receive a 4% Volume Bonus on up to 500,000 credits per income center

The Volume Bonus is paid out on a minimum 10,000 credits generated weekly on each acquired income center.

Rank Achievement Bonus

Zinzino rewards affiliates who qualify at the Diamond and higher ranks with the following Rank Achievement Bonuses:

  • Diamond with at least 750 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $3500 bonus paid over five months
  • Director with at least 1500 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $7000 bonus paid over five months
  • Crown with at least 3000 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $15,000 bonus paid over ten months
  • Royal Crown with at least 5000 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $20,000 bonus paid over ten months
  • Black Crown with at least 7500 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $25,000 bonus paid over ten months
  • Ambassador with at least 10,000 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $35,000 bonus paid over ten months
  • Royal Ambassador with at least 12,500 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $35,000 bonus paid over ten months
  • President with at least 20,000 credits monthly on each side of the binary team = $150,000 bonus paid over twenty months

X-Team Qualification

Various bonuses in the Zinzino compensation plan are tied to X-Team qualification.

To be X-Team qualified an affiliate must have 10 personal Customer Points that generae at least 50 credits per month (includes an affiliate’s own purchases)

X-Team Express can be qualified within an affiliate’s first 60 days by

  1. maintaining a standing autoship order and
  2. enrolling at least ten retail customers on autoship who together purchase at least 50 credits worth of product each month

X-Team Express qualification provides

Fast Silver Bonus

The Fast Silver Bonus pays out $202.50 and triggers double credits for new customer orders.

To qualify for the Fast Silver Bonus a Zinzino affiliate must (in their first thirty days):

  1. have a standing autoship order
  2. qualify as a Bronze or higher and
  3. generate at least 375 credits in product orders and/or purchases

To maintain double credits on new orders a Fast Silver Bonus qualified affiliate must either

  1. continue to generate 750 credits in orders a month or
  2. maintain X-Team qualification

Mentor Bonus

Zinzino affiliates who qualify as a Smart Bronze receive $135 plus a 5% Mentor Bonus on residual commissions paid to personally recruited affiliates.

To qualify as a Smart Bronze a Bronze affiliate must

  1. have a standing autoship order and
  2. recruit at least four affiliates on autoship.

Note the above qualification must be met within a new Zinzino affiliate’s first thirty days.

If the four recruited affiliates also qualify as a Smart Bronze, the recruiting affiliate’s Mentor Bonus is doubled to 10%.

Whichever Mentor Bonus rate is qualified for continues to be paid out as long as the qualifying affiliate maintains Bronze or higher rank.

A Mentor Bonus qualified affiliate can also receive the 5% bonus on downline affiliates who do not qualify for the Mentor Bonus.

A-Team Bonus

The A-Team Bonus rewards qualified affiliates with

  • a 20% cash bonus on new customer orders
  • a monthly $135 bonus
  • double credits from retail customer new and ongoing orders and
  • 1 Director Trip point per month

To qualify for the A-Team Bonus a Zinzino affiliate must have 25 Customer Points and be generating at least 125 credits a month.

Pro-Team Bonus

The Pro-Team Bonus rewards qualified affiliates with

  • a 25% cash bonus on new customer orders
  • a monthly $202.50 bonus
  • double credits from retail customer new and ongoing orders and
  • 3 Director Trip points per month

To qualify for the Pro-Team Bonus a Zinzino affiliate must have 50 Customer Points and be generating at least 250 credits a month.

Top-Team Bonus

The Top-Team Bonus rewards qualified affiliates with

  • a 30% cash bonus on new customer orders
  • a monthly $270 bonus
  • double credits from retail customer new and ongoing orders and
  • 5 Director Trip points per month
  • a $25,000 one-time bonus paid out over 25 months ($400 a month)

To qualify for the Pro-Team Bonus a Zinzino affiliate must have 100 Customer Points and be generating at least 500 credits a month.

Note that to receive the entire $25,000 bonus, Top-Team qualification must be met for twenty-five months (can be non-consecutive).

Top 200 Plus Bonus

The Top-Team Bonus rewards qualified affiliates with

  • a 30% cash bonus on new customer orders
  • a monthly $540 bonus
  • double credits from retail customer new and ongoing orders and
  • 8 Director Trip points per month (upon achieving Top 200 Plus qualification for the first time one Director Trip is awarded)

To qualify for the Pro-Team Bonus a Zinzino affiliate must have 200 Customer Points and be generating at least 2000 credits a month.

Top-200 Plus Bonus qualified affiliates also receive an additional $270 and 3 Director Trip Points a month per additional 100 Customer Points and 500 credits they generate a month.

Z4F Bonus

Z4F qualification allows Zinzino affiliates and customers to receive their monthly autoship order for free.

To be Z4F qualified, a Zinzino affiliate or retail customer must

  1. have a standing autoship order
  2. have referred at least four retail customers who together generate at least 4 Customer Points a month and
  3. generate at least four times the credits of their own autoship order via first-generation retail customers

Note that retail customers are able to refer new customers. Credit volume for other bonuses is paid to the upline affiliate.

The Z4F Bonus is 30 credits awarded the first time a personally enrolled or downline enrolled retail customer or personally recruited affiliate meets the Z4F qualification criteria above.

If double credits have also been qualified for, the Z4F Bonus is increased to 60 credits.

zCar Bonus

Diamond and higher ranked Zinzino affiliates qualify for a monthly $1000 zCar Bonus.

zPhone Bonus

Executive and higher ranked Zinzino affiliates qualify for a $500 a month zPhone Bonus.

Despite the name, the zPhone Bonus appears to be paid in cash with no strings attached.

Director Trips

To qualify for Zinzino’s annual Director Trip, affiliates must generate 125 Director Trip points a year.

Director Trip points are received through customer orders, recruited affiliates orders and qualifying as an Executive or higher.

Joining Zinzino

Zinzino affiliate membership is free.

Conclusion

Although Zinzino’s pivot from coffee pods to nutritional supplements may seem odd, I get why they did it.

In our 2013 review we hit Zinzino hard for overpriced products.

Their supplier, Rombouts, sold the same products much cheaper directly on their own website. This raised the question of who was buying through Zinzino?

With respect to the new lineup, nothing really stands out as unique but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Given Zinzino wasn’t launched around nutrition, I do feel they’re offering is somewhat bland. Sort of what you’d expect from a generic nutrition-based MLM company.

Again, that doesn’t mean Zinzino’s products are bad, just be sure to compare what they’re offering with what’s available locally and online in your area.

One particular product I want to comment on though is Zinzino’s Balance Test.

Zinzino’s BalanceTest is dry blood-spot test for home sample collection.

Leading laboratories in the Nordic countries analyze the sample to determine your fatty acid profile as a reflection of your diet.

It takes less than a minute to complete, and you can access your results online anonymously after about 20 days.

The BalanceTest identifies levels of 11 fatty acids in the blood with 98% certainty.

You will learn your blood levels of omega-3 and your ratio of omega 6:3 for balance.

At $169 this seems massively over-priced. A quick Google search for omega 3 home test revealed Omega 3 lab kits start at around $33.

Seeing as omega 3 supplement oil is Zinzino’s flagship product line, surely this kit can be sold closer to what it’s actually worth?

And the Balance Test marketing is also slightly off:

You wake up on Christmas morning, rush to the tree and start tearing open your presents…

An Omega 3 blood test kit…!? I HATE YOU MOM!

Yeah, don’t think most recipients are going to see that as being spoiled. Least of all if they find out they’re omega 3 deficient and then get pitched on Zinzino products.

Moving onto Zinzino’s compensation plan, the 2013 plan we reviewed was massively complicated.

The good news is Zinzino have made their plan simpler, although it’s still burdened by an abundance of bonuses and excessive ranks.

The credits to pay points to USD thing is a bit confusing at first, but not impossible to get your head around. I don’t know why Zinzino didn’t just go with PV/GV to keep things simple.

As for the bonuses, surely there’s an easier way to integrate them and consolidate the twenty available affiliate ranks?

That said I didn’t particularly find the plan confusing as I did with the 2013 one, just that it seemed to go on and on and on. You’re obviously not going to be able to explain Zinzino’s compensation plan to a prospect in any reasonable amount of time.

And, despite my best efforts, they’re probably not going to understand without questions even if they’ve got time to go over a written version.

So yeah, a bit of work to go yet on compensation plan presentation and simplification.

As to the plan itself, my first red flag was this suggestion to new Zinzino affiliates:

Number 2 naturally set off my “autoship recruitment” alarm. To be clear, requiring affiliates to purchase products to qualify for commissions and bonuses is pay to play.

Zinzino walk a fine line in how this has been implemented though. Autoship isn’t required to progress through the Zinzino compensation plan but is required to fully qualify for everything.

And an affiliate can negate the cost of their autoship order by generating the equivalent in retail customer autoship orders. Hopefully that is taken advantage of and isn’t just lip-service.

Customer Points are the wildcard that counter-balances affiliate autoship.

You need Customer Points to initially progress in Zinzino and they only come from your own order and retail customer orders.

That said residual commissions and ranks aren’t tied to Customer Point acquisition, so technically you can get by on autoship recruitment after your initial Bronze qualification (for some reason Bronze is the only rank that requires Customer Points).

One major red flag I can’t overlook is the tying of multiple income centers to an affiliate-spend.

When you purchase a Partner Product Kit you will be given two (2) additional Income Centers.

Affiliate “Product Kits” cost $60 to $949. Whether a $60 kit provides the same income centers as the $949 kit is unclear.

Regardless, this is blatant “pay to play” and needs to go.

All in all Zinzino is an improvement since 2013 but still a mixed bag.

Better meaningful use of Customer Points into commission and bonus qualification would go a long way, as would lessening the dependency on affiliate autoship.

Zinzino claims it’s “the most customer-focused direct sales company in the world”, so why not let the products stand on their own merit?