Say Hello to the $700 Juicer

If you like juice—as in really like juice—there's a gadget just for you. The Juicero, which made its debut this month, is "competing to be the most technologically advanced thing in the kitchen," the Christian Science Monitor reports. It's also among the priciest: The "sleek-looking" cold-press juicer rings up at $700 (well, $699). And the produce packets that the Juicero squeezes (it's dubbed the "Keurig for juice," per Fortune) cost between $5 and $10 per 8-ounce serving. Connected to the Internet, the Juicero reads QR codes on the recyclable juice packets to make sure they aren't expired; it can also order more packets for you. The organic produce in the packets is processed at a factory in Los Angeles. It all has CNET proclaiming, via headline, that the system "is built to squeeze your wallet dry."

But such sentiment hasn't stopped "Silicon Valley titans" from pumping $120 million into the startup founded by the hemp-sandal aficionado Doug Evans, "a raw-food evangelist … with no experience running tech companies and a bungled juice-bar chain under his belt," the New York Times reports. One investor tells the Times how complicated Juicero is as a business: "It's software. It's consumer electronics. It's produce and packaging." At the moment, Juicero offers five flavors, such as Spicy Greens and Carrot Beet, and the machines are only being shipped in California (they're still taking orders from elsewhere). Commercial sales, Fortune notes, might be what Juicero needs to ultimately bring prices down for home users. Restaurant chain Le Pain Quotidien will use the Juicero in some 220 stores, Evans says. Check out the Juicero in action. (Meanwhile, Keurig is moving on to soup.)