In India this offers a tremendous opportunity for anyone exploring an entry into the
nascent but increasingly talked about packaged coconut water industry. While it is
early days for the packaged drink, coconut water has a few advantages that other
soft drinks do not have. Firstly, the goodness of coconut water complements the
increasing demand for healthy food and beverage offerings. Consumers today are
more knowledgeable than even a few years ago, and are particularly aware of the
amount of sugar in packaged food and drinks. This awareness has led to a recent
de-growth of 20% in the soft drinks segment. The fact that coconut water is already
consumed in large quantities in its unprocessed form presents another advantage
for the new industry: acceptance of the product by the consumer is a given, and the
habit-changing advertising money can be put to better use. As long as the practical
advantages to a packaged drink are effectively communicated, there is already an
existing demand for the drink across the country - more so away from the coasts
where the unprocessed nuts are in shorter supply.
now able to make the journey to North America with the help of Tetra Pak's
packaging technology. By 2010, both Coca Cola and Pepsi had invested in market
leading coconut water brands in the US (Zico and O.N.E Coconut Water
respectively), which propelled the industry even further. Today the global market
has crossed $1 billion and continues to grow at an astonishing 25% CAGR.
The Brazilian coconut water industry can be used as a way of anticipating the type
of response one could expect in a country where unprocessed coconut water is
already abundantly available across the country. In 2003, at the start of Brazil's
packaged coconut water journey, the consumption of coconut water made up only
21% of its 100% juice market. By 2010, that number had grown to 67%. Today Brazil
is the largest consumer of packaged coconut water, beating both USA and SE Asian
markets. In support of the growing preference for healthier food options, Brazil's
Pizza Hut and KFC outlets sell more coconut water than any other drink on their
menu. While India is not identical to Brazil in any way, the signs certainly give
Indian coconut brands confidence in the opportunity that this country can offer.
The coconut supply chain in India remains an unorganised and complex sector, with
the majority of organised supply heading towards coconut oil production and other
coconut uses. Since the demand for the water on an industrial scale is still so
recent, marketers of the water often struggle to find large enough volumes from
reliable suppliers. While the Coconut Board of India aims to increase the demand for
coconut water and coconut-based products, their plans for generating demand are
outdated and have not caught up with the potential of packaged coconut water.
Having said that, the Coconut Board has started to promote technology that can
extract the water and bottle it, a method that has been adopted by several
manufacturers in the southern states. For the coconut industry to truly modernise,
the Coconut Board will need to work alongside the new wave of packaged coconut
water entrepreneurs to mechanise the coconut collection and aggregation process
and improve the availability of the nuts in their young, drinkable form.
We, at Nilgai Foods, have a strong belief in the next five years for the Indian market.
We expect the market to grow from under Rs 10 crore today to over Rs 1,100 crore
in five years' time, taking some share of the packaged juice market but at the same
time catalysing a conversion in the unorganised sector to the packaged version of
the nut. We believe that our brand, Cocofly, has the potential to become one of
India's leading brands over the coming years. We plan to do this by establishing
ourselves as the truly guilt-free coconut water that contains no added sugar and no
preservatives, distinguishing ourselves from other coconut water brands who
compromise purity in favour of extended shelf life and increased profitability. By
emphasising the 100% natural qualities of the product and by offering the consumer
total transparency, we hope to capture the audience that recognises product
integrity and safety as important considerations beyond simply affordability. That
said, with an MRP of Rs 30, Cocofly is likely to be the most affordable brand on offer
this summer in Mumbai and Delhi.