Coconut water quenches healthy demand
FROM A standing start in late 2011, Ice Cube Beverages is now distributing its H2coco brand of coconut water to all major supermarkets in New Zealand and into the Coles chain in Australia.
In a week’s time, the company will put its case to the other Australian supermarket major, Woolworths, says co-owner Colin Erickson.
Indeed, demand has been so strong that the company has been forced to airfreight supplies from its contract packager in the Philippines.
In a notoriously tough market – beverages in general and supplying beverages to supermarkets in particular – Ice Cube has made it look easy.
But appearances can be deceptive. There were some unusual factors contributing to the company’s success.
First, Ice Cube spotted the right opportunity and is riding a global trend. Coconut water is a health drink that many sports enthusiasts and casual consumers are discovering for its strong rehydrating properties.
Sales are exploding and what used to be a disposable byproduct in the Philippines is now a major industry, says Ice Cube’s Colin Erickson.
Secondly, global brands were slow to arrive in this part of the world.
Thirdly, H2coco has delivered a consumer-friendly Tetra Pak-style carton, where some of the others now on the market come in a can.
Coconut water is the liquid inside young, green coconuts, not the coconut milk we all know. Hugely popular in the tropics for years, a new pasteurisation process has brought the drink to the West.
Not only is it a powerful rehydrator, coconut water also contains most of the electrolytes athletes need.
Erickson says people have been sceptical, thinking coconut water is a fad, but it has gone past that now.
‘‘Without a doubt it’s the No 1