Several Chinese suppliers have fed back: coconut water is experiencing explosive growth. The head of an industrial food company told me that the number of customers inquiring about OEMing coconut water has become significantly higher recently. The head of Water Mama’s marketing department said that sales of coconut water have increased by 200% over the previous quarter.It is not the first time that coconut water is used in beverage stores. But in the past, coconut water in drinks is used in combination with coconut milk; now more popular is the coconut water as the main character launched, presenting the main flavor.

The chain brand Heytea also launched a variety of coconut water products in 2021, such as the combination of oil citrus with oil citrus coconut, super refreshing raw coconut water with coconut milk jelly, and super refreshing raw coconut water American style with coffee, etc. M Stand launched the “whole coconut egg coffee” in the summer of ’21, in which fresh coconut eggs are filled with coffee liquid, which once exploded. It was a hit all over the internet.

Why is coconut water popular?

• Health is the first element
• The “coconut fever” continues
• Multiple functional

Coconut water is inherently refreshing, non-burdensome characteristics. From the mint health point of view, coconut water has 0 fat, 100ml of calories only 18KJ.

Lai Caijia, the application R&D director of Fino, told me that the keyword “health” has an average daily search volume of 600 million on the WeChat index, especially during the epidemic, consumers’ functional demand for health is more prominent. Functional and healthy products have long been the mainstream trend in the industry.

2 trends in the popularity of products in the tea beverage industry

When the main flavor of an ingredient is popular, the flavor is validated by the market, and its peripheral products and related products will continue to be explored. For example, when oat milk becomes popular, products such as oat milk lids and oat ice cream will follow.

When the individual head brand is launched, it will quickly set off a wave of trends, and a large number of brands in the market to follow.

Placed on coconut water.
From the perspective of flavor, with the hot sale of raw hit coconut in 2021, the medium concentration of coconut water is widely used, and this year to carry out a new downward spiral, is coconut water is naturally concerned.

From the point of view of the brand launch, last year, such as HEYTEA shelves after the initial test water. Gradually multiple brands are concerned about the way this product is applied, after trying to launch this year.

What are the factors to consider when choosing coconut water?

1. Flavor selection

More mellow and sweet: choose Thai coconut, which is due to the unique geographical location of the Bangkok plain, a salty and freshwater source to form a unique saline soil, coupled with the annual precipitation of 1000 to 2000 mm, creating a perfumed coconut with a unique aromatic flavor substance.

More pure and clean: choose Vietnamese coconut, similar to the Bangkok water source, the production area is located at the confluence of salty and fresh water in the Mekong River section, creating a Brix value of 7 to 9% of the coconut at the same time, bringing a more pure taste.

2. Ripeness

Coconuts are ranked by maturity, from “raw” to “old”: young coconut, green coconut, royal coconut, and old/hairy coconut.

Young coconut: green skin, the growth cycle of 6 months, coconut flesh has not yet formed, the flavor is not the best.

Green coconut: after the outer peel is peeled off, the white medium peel is retained; 7 mature, juicier, better taste, 180+28 days is the ideal picking period; most of them are imported from Thailand, the sweetness and nutrients reach the highest, the flesh is soft.

Royal coconut: the inner and outer peel are removed and polished smooth, the skin turns yellow and the head has a sharp angle; the coconut water is rich and the flesh is harder.

Old coconut / hairy coconut: more mature coconut, the skin is full of silky “hair”, so also called hairy coconut; the juice is not much, but the meat is thick, has high oil content, and is more suitable for making coconut milk.

To sum up: coconut water tastes better than coconut green, coconut king.

3. Variety

There are many kinds of coconut, there are four common: Hainan coconut, golden coconut, glutinous coconut, and perfume coconut.

Hainan coconut: green skin, after maturity is the hair coconut, is the most people see coconut.
Golden coconut: mostly distributed in Sanya, the appearance of golden yellow, sweet juice, coconut meat thick, the price is higher than the green coconut.
Glutinous rice coconut: Hainan varieties, more rare, small but juicy, drink a strong coconut and glutinous rice fragrance, thick sweet flesh, glutinous rice-like taste.
Perfume coconut: Thai varieties, is also currently one of the most used varieties of beverage stores, sweeter than other coconuts, production is lower than other coconuts, and high prices.

4. Origin

Coconut production in the world’s top 10 countries mainly in Southeast Asia and South America. Commonly used in China: Hainan, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand.

Vietnam: coconut water and coconut milk are available, the largest production, stable quality, and high-cost performance.
Indonesia: the second-largest production, the high oil content of coconut, the main production of coconut milk, coconut oil.
Thailand: the smallest production, perfume coconut varieties are dominant, but the quantity is the small and high price.

5. Process

The coconut water extraction process is usually the same, the difference lies in the “water” link and “sterilization” link.

Better water extraction is vacuum extraction; sterilization temperature and time will affect the activity of enzymes in the coconut, thus affecting the flavor presentation.

In addition, the factory production of coconut water is generally blended products, so that the quality is relatively stable, after UHT or pasteurization, room temperature or frozen storage.