
For Coconut Waters, a Street Fight for Shelf Space - neilc
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/for-coconut-waters-a-street-fight-for-shelf-space.html
======
Nux
Wonder where the heck they're growing so many coconut trees to fill the
supermarkets of the western world with.

~~~
wldlyinaccurate
Coconuts are already being produced in vast quantities (60+ million tonnes[1])
for their meat and oil. I imagine the coconut water manufacturers are just
using the water which would otherwise be thrown away, which is why the coconut
water market has been able to grow so rapidly without increasing global
coconut production.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut#Cultivation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut#Cultivation)

~~~
JustinJBM
Not necessarily true. The coconuts used for oil and meat are picked much later
than the coconuts used for water. Of course that's only the case if you're
talking about pure coconut water -- coconut brands who use concentrate are
probably making the concentrate from the mature coconuts that are used for
their meat and oil. gross stuff.

------
wiseleo
There are at least 5 brands of coconut water at my local Walgreens in San
Francisco. One of them is half the price of all others, but it's overall a
premium drink. Having tasted just about all of them, I prefer Zico. It seems
they did sell too early.

~~~
jrockway
Did they sell too early? It seems like the way to tell is to figure out what
the founders and early-stage investors got out of the buyout. If they never
have to work again, they sold at exactly the right time. If they do still have
to work, then yeah, oops.

------
asah
My startup is smack in the middle of this because we deliver snacks and
beverages to silicon valley companies and buy direct from manufacturers
(bbf.io/snacks) - indeed, there are crazy battles far beyond vita coco and
zico, including easily a half dozen others, all offering deals.

Copra and Harmless indeed are awesome, but they're also 2-3x the cost, which
is prohibitive for most people. They also have very short shelf-life, which
makes it hard to scale. Shelf-stable coconut waters last 6+ months.

Coconut water isn't half as competitive as energy and protein bars. I have
stories...

------
andrewfong
"Today, he’s not just nostalgic for the old days of the coconut water wars. He
wishes that Zico was still a serious threat. He wants a competitor, throwing
elbows, playing Monster to his Red Bull, a melee that goosed energy-drink
consumption to new highs."

This. A lot of startup founders (myself included) freak out when we find
someone else doing the exact same thing we are. But competition can also be
great for kicking your butt into action and working to expand the market.

------
beloch
My local supermarket sells young coconuts for about half the price of a can of
coconut water and, I assure you, I'm about as far from where coconuts grow as
you can get on this planet! The stuff is seriously overpriced at present.
Also, most brands have sugar added, which makes the stuff sickly sweet. I can
see how that's necessary to make inroads into the soft-drink market, but
healthy it is not!

------
badman_ting
The first time I went to Mexico, I was excited to get a fresh coconut, a hole
cut in the top with a machete and a straw inserted. It was much less
refreshing than I expected, so I don't understand this trend.

~~~
ryannevius
I lived in Vietnam for about a year. On many major street corners, you could
usually find someone selling coconuts. The vendor would pick up a fresh one,
chop the top off with a machete, and insert a straw + spoon. While the quality
varied, more often than not they were good. That said, it's definitely not a
taste everyone will enjoy.

I've been back in the states since June. The coconut juice/drinks sold in the
stores taste nothing like actual coconut juice. I'm not sure people would go
as crazy over the real thing...but who knows.

------
contingencies
On the same subject, earlier today as a pet project I decided to break out a
new page on Wikipedia:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superfoods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superfoods)

Dandelion leaves, anyone?

------
dheer01
Or get fresh coconuts delivered to your place - 2 for a dollar - Bangalore.

------
goldenkey
I have no stake in coconut water but I've tried them all.

Here's my breakdown:

Goya and those other cheap canned brands usually have sugar added and are
heavily pasteurized to preserve.

Out of O.N.E, Vita, and Zico, O.N.E. is the best. Often times Vita has the
sour potassium taste from overaging, and Zico is somewhat bland.

Now, here's the deal breaker, all of the above coconut waters are total trash
compared to RAW coconut water. When coconut water is heated, it destroys the
delicious taste. Coconut water naturally should look glowing pink.

There are two brands of raw coconut water. Copra and Harmless Harvest. I
couldn't put my finger on it but Harmless Harvest had a slightly weird
aftertaste. ( I bought a case so it wasn't just a mishap with a single
carton.) Copra consistently delivered and I found myself drinking way too many
because they're so tasty.

Until you try Copra or indigenous fresh Thai coconut water you're missing out.
And I know this sounds like an ad, but I seriously have tried every coconut
water and I'm just spreading the information. Cheers

~~~
mundizzle
thanks for the tips! i've also sampled all the coconut waters i can find. 2
things i've come to notice...

\- coconut water from thailand has a better (sweeter?) taste than from brazil.

\- drinking out of steel/aluminum vs plastic containers somehow makes a
difference. that could just be in my head though.

Amy & Brian's is the brand i get around here that satisfies my criteria.

will have to checkout the raw stuff though :)

~~~
goldenkey
Perhaps that's also why the raw ones tasted sweeter and better, they were both
from Thailand. I know glass is the most inert but it doesn't seem like any of
the brands sell glass bottles - pretty sure plastic would be the next best.
Yeah, definitely try the raw when you can, I can't believe how awful the non-
raw stuff taste in comparison - it's eye opening

~~~
rdtsc
Some "ethnic" (ex. Asian) stores will sell small glass bottles of it (they
look like miniature coca cola bottles), sometimes the come in with chunks of
coconut.

Not sure how fresh/healthy/pasteurized/sweetened they are but I seem to like
those best out of the ones I tried.

Can't even tell you the brand. There were two that had the same packaging and
one tasted better.

And yes, it was sweeter.

------
enupten
I wish someone imported Coconut water from India; the Thai ones are just so
awful (or is this because of all the poking that they do to it ?).

