Coconut water was the biggest health craze in 2010. Its versatility—with a positioning between fruit juice, bottled water, ready-to-drink (RTD) tea and sport drinks—made it the next big thing in the soft drinks landscape (see Coconut water – a world of opportunity for more insight). The drink is highly popular in countries like Brazil and in South Asia, where one can buy it from street vendors and drink it directly from the shell with a straw. Packaged coconut water has been the first step in bringing it to the U.S. and Western Europe, and putting it in powder format is the most recent attempt in boosting sales even further.
 
The coconut water craze started just after both USDA and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) presented new intake recommendations regarding potassium consumption. USDA identified potassium as “low enough to be of public health concern for both adults and children” in November 2010. And it is one of the few ingredients that went successfully through EFSA’s tight health claims review and is allowed to advertise health claims related to blood pressure, muscular and neurological functioning. Indeed, the high natural potassium content of coconut water has made it a strong contender in product development.
 
Not all product launches with coconut water have been successful, however. The recent failure of Nesfluid shows the limits with products deemed too gimmicky. Nesfluid went too far from its coconut water base. Although highlighted in the communication around the product, coconut water was put second behind extra ingredients such as green tea on the front of its packaging. Too many claims about the product also confused consumers. Overall, its positioning was too far-fetched compared to coconut water’s strongest assets—its naturally healthy positioning and consumers’ perception that “pure” products are healthiest for the human body. Ultimately, the price drove away consumers. At €1.85/bottle, and with a recommendation of 2 bottles daily, the monthly budget of €110 was unreasonable for most consumers.
 
New to the scene is Bigelow Tea Coconut Water with Green Tea Mix powder. Launched in September 2011 in the U.S., the product goes one step further by offering powdered coconut water in individual sticks in an effort to reach new consumers. And RC Bigelow is not the only one with this idea. In the same month, Reva also launched a powder coconut water concentrate and other niche products, which can be found online and in specialty retailers. RC Bigelow is the second largest player in tea in the U.S. after Unilever, so the fact the product was launched by a player big enough to get nationwide coverage is also good news for powdered coconut water and should help increase awareness.
 
Bigelow is mixing coconut water with its core expertise—green tea—and adding other up-and-coming naturally healthy ingredients to the mix, such as stevia, acai and pomegranate. And unlike Nesfluid, which overloaded the bottle with too many confusing health claims, Bigelow lets the ingredients do the talking. Bigelow is clearly positioning its product as a healthier alternative to powder sport drinks.
 
The powder format will certainly not appeal to everyone, being too remote from the ‘fresh from the fruit’ appeal. In fact, suspicions are already being raised on the taste and whether the production process keeps all the healthy components intact. But these are the same people that criticize powder concentrates in general. The fact that all products available contain sugar could also threaten development, so sugar-free versions are likely to pop up soon.
 
The powder format has some strong assets, which could help make coconut water overall more mainstream. It has a much lower price when compared with the RTD version and a strong health appeal, all wrapped in convenient individual sachet.
 
Cash-strapped consumers could be another target with the powdered coconut water format. In the U.K. (where no powder coconut water has been launched, but packaged coconut water is rapidly growing), juice concentrates such as Ribena have been extremely successful because they offer great value by providing healthy drinks for kids, with real fruit content, at a much lower cost than 100% fresh juices. The do-it-yourself aspect is also a hit with kids, which offers potential not just for individual powder concentrates but also familial liquid concentrates of coconut water.