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.
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.<p>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.<p>Coconut water isn't half as competitive as energy and protein bars. I have stories...
"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."<p>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.
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!
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.
On the same subject, earlier today as a pet project I decided to break out a new page on Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superfoods" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_superfoods</a><p>Dandelion leaves, anyone?
I have no stake in coconut water but I've tried them all.<p>Here's my breakdown:<p>Goya and those other cheap canned brands usually have sugar added and are heavily pasteurized to preserve.<p>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.<p>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.<p>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.<p>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