Coconut crazy!

I went out on Tuesday (11^th March 2014) to see if there’s anything interesting, innovative or exciting happening in the drinks isles of various connivance stores and off-licenses in London. In all honesty there wasn't a lot. However, something that did stand out to me was the shear amount of decals for VitaCoCo. Below are just a few of the different Vita CoCo promotional offers and POS elements.

Just as I did, you may find yourself asking “what is Vita CoCo..?" Vita CoCo is an all-natural, fat-free, cholesterol-free, "nutrient-packed", coconut water.

Since the summer of 2004 Vita CoCo has not only carved a new market in the non-carbonated drinks business, they've become one of the fastest growing lifestyle drinks brands in North America and Europe. Now in 2014 Vita CoCo looks to tread on the toes of companies among the children’s drink category with the launch of their latest offering, Vita Coco Kids (imaginative, I know).

In line with a previous post “A spoonful of sugar could make the sales go down”, Vita Coco are introducing this product to meet the consumer demand for healthy drinks, as parents look for a low sugar alternatives to other UK leading children's beverages. Vita CoCo Kids's national launch is on Monday (17^th March 2014) with Waitrose being the first to feature the product on their shelves.

The food and beverage industry will need to keep a close eye on this space as Vita CoCo isn't the only company going Coco-nuts (bah-doom-boom-tssshhh). Levi Roots Soft Drinks is set to further their offerings in the beverage category with the launch of Levi Roots Coconut Water ‘n’ Lime soft drink, the first still drink in the Levi Roots portfolio. 

With recent research showing that coconut water sales have doubled in the past two years due to its association with healthy living, the category is now worth £5m. With health in mind, sugar being perceived as the devil and the growing consumer demand for Coconut drinks, could this be the next big thing or is it just another health fad?