What is "Coconut Water War" that has been fierce sales competition for 10 years in an attempt to kick rivals with that hand?

Coconut waterHas been picked up on television and magazines as "a healthy good all-purpose drink", and celebrities are drinking and it shows great excitement. It has been the driving force behind such a coconut water market for ten yearsVita CocoWhenZICO. As of 2004 when both companies began selling coconut water, some manufacturers only sold coconut water in response to the demands of immigrants, but now there are more than 200 coconut water brands around the world , It seems that it has grown to a market of more than 400 million dollars (about 41 billion yen) annually.

Vita Coco and ZICO who have pulled such a coconut water market have a strange edge that they started to sell the same goods in the same New York City at the same time by coincidence, and the representatives of Vita Coco are sleeping Put a ZICO coconut water next to it and send it to the representative of ZICO by photographing the situation and ZICO suddenly handed out free sample of its own coconut water in front of Vita Coco's office, completely obstructive action It is a rival enterprise that has worked hard in mutual competition while also holding up others. The struggle of such two companies is entitled "coconut water wars", and a story of ten years passedNew York TimesIt introduces.

For Coconut Waters, a Street Fight for Shelf Space - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/business/for-coconut-waters-a-street-fight-for-shelf-space.html


◆ The beginning of the Coconut Water War

ByAlex Masters

Michael Kirban, who later founded Vita Coco in 2003 and Ira Liran, his friend and future business partner, met two Brazilian women in a bar at the lower east side of Manhattan. Liran will be close to one of these Brazilian women and will travel to Brazil together. Shortly after Liran's arrival in Brazil, Kirban is said to have headed to Sao Paulo in Brazil, and at that time Liran realizes that he is willing to stay in Brazil and marry a woman. However, Mr. Liran was unemployed at that time and it seems necessary to find a job.

So, Kirban and Liran tried and tried variously, and when they encountered a Brazilian lady at a bar, I heard the word "coconut water" which I miss the most when I come to America. In Brazil, coconut water is a popular drink rather than orange juice, and Kirban who actually stayed in Sao Paulo for a long time saw that she was talking about what he was talking about was not a joke.

Michael Kirban, founder of Vita Coco.


Kirban was an entrepreneur who launched a software company and he said the software business was steady. However, Kirban, who came to Brazil to crave a new challenge, will make a coconut water plant with Liran in Espirito Santo in eastern Brazil and manufacture food packs etcTetra PakContract with coconut water and start selling coconut water. The first shipment of Vita Coco was in May of 2004, it seems that coconut water of about 100,000 dollars (about 10 million yen) was shipped.

◆ Problems occurring one after another
"Two days before the first shipment of coconut water arrived, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contacted us," Kirban recalls the incident at the time. The FDA says that "I thought you were going to sell this by ship but you can not bring it in the US because there is no registration number," the FDA says that you can not bring in the coconut water for the first production in the US I have told it. After that, Kirban carried the initial production of coconut water to the Bahamas, turned around the bar and etc, it seems that about half of it was sold out.

In August 2004 it became possible to import Vita Coco's coconut water into the United States, and then Kirban carried a coconut water pack on his back, wearing a skate and selling in a drinking shop I heard he did.

About a week after Kirban started Venta Coco, a coconut water venture company, at a supermarket in Herald Square in Manhattan you can hear the information "I saw another brand of coconut water" . At that time, he seems to have thought that such a foolish thing, but Kirban says that he was amazed seeing the place where Zico's coconut water was sold later. At that time, Mark Rampolla, the founder of ZICO, was also surprised to see someone trying to sell the same coconut water, looking at Vita Coco's coconut water.

Mark Rampolla, founder of ZICO.


Rampolla met Coconut Water when he was a volunteer organization operated by the Federal Government of the United StatesPeace CorpsI came to volunteer in Costa Rica at that time. After leaving the Peace CorpsInternational PaperRampolla who founded ZICO with her later wife Mora in management positions in the beverage package department. In addition to his dream of becoming a millionaire in the activities of ZICO, he seems to think that he wants to do something that has a positive influence on society. This idea is consistent with the idea that coconuts are raised in 85 countries around the world and if products using coconuts can produce a lot of work in developing countries, Rampolla sells coconut water at ZICO I decide to do.

Thus it seems that in August 2004 two coconut water came to be sold in a place very close to New York City.

ByLi Tsin Soon

◆ Fierce battle between Vita Coco and ZICO


Popular among beverages sold in the USAVitaminwaterYaSnapple,Arizona,Red Bull,MysticAre brands that started in New York, and this reason is because there are few retail stores in New York that only handle one brand. Instead, it is necessary to silence nationwide chain stores to handle items at retail stores, and in some cases stores may request money instead of putting products.

ZICO has become favored by people enjoying yoga from an early stage, and yoga studio in New YorkBikram Yoga NYCYou will be able to handle your own coconut water at. On the other hand, Vita Coco's coconut water was first treated as a supermarket in a prime location near Union SquareWhole Foods Marketwas.

ByDavid Shankbone

After that, Whole Foods Market decided the handling of ZICO's coconut water, but the coconut water of Vita Coco and ZICO had the exact same product name "coconut water", because both companies did not try to change this, Coconut Water The displayed zones are going to be tremendous.

Chris Michaels, former salesperson of ZICO, said, "There is an old adage that" If there is no price tag, it is not sold, "but the salesman of Vita Coco either discards the price tag of our item, I put them all in the cart and left them in stock warehouse ", and tells about the conflict of the two companies in the Whole Foods Market of those days. Of course ZICO side is also trying to repay it as well, if you buy 50 pieces you get 25 ZICO coconut water free of charge, or putting your own coconut water on the shelves not to put as much Vita Coco's items as you can I heard he was doing it. Mr. Rampolla of ZICO looked back at that time, "I myself was trying to take the royal road, but I did not tell this to the sales team of the company myself."

ByMike Mozart

At that time, Vita Coco and ZICO seemed to compete in various ways, but during that time Kirban and Rampolla did not have a place to discuss.

The conflict between the two companies that glow up successfully gathered much attention of consumers, and Vita Coco will be able to purchase transport vehicles. We will paint this with ocean view, free samples and female staff to do hula hoops with road will be posted and samples of Vita Coco will be distributed free in town. In contrast to ZICO, he said he hired college students to put their own coconut water in a cooler box and sell them for sale.

A van that Vita Coco bought for free sample distribution.

ByAdam Fagen

After that, Vita Coco initially displays "Health promotion indication" to the effect that "kidney stone will be removed" on its own coconut water, gradually "indications that skin will become beautiful" and " It will appear to be displayed. In countries that drink coconut water such as Brazil, Thailand, Indonesia, it seems that such health promotion effect is said to be said.

However, in 2011, Vita Coco was charged with "a misleading nutrition label together with a phrase such as" being excellent in moisturizing "", and after that the indication of "exaggeration" health promotion indication disappears at once I will. However, at present, many coconut water brands are supposed to infer that "it contains a lot of useful electrolytes and potassium for the body", and against the coconut water treated like "natural secret agent" , It seems that some nutritionists think that such reputation is disproportionate.

Vita Coco's coconut water is 5.5 kcal per ounce (about 28 grams), although it is calorie modestly lower than Gatorade, it still contains a lot of calories. Lilian Cheung of the Harvard Public Health Graduate School says, "It is not appropriate to drink coconut water to moisturize thirst," which means that those who consume a lot of calories from liquids, even with regular solid meals It seems to be because it tends to intake a lot of calories. In addition, when Vita Coco was accused, Vita Coco is undergoing worldwide development, there is assistance from many investors, and ultimately payment of 10 million dollar compensation is settled It is attached.

ByOne Way Stock

In addition, the conflict between Vita Coco and ZICO began at the stage before selling the product. Both companies were very small companies at the beginning, but in 2005 it was a distributor who bought a part when Vitaminwater spread across the countryBig GeyserI would like to have a contract with. Big Geyser's president Lewis Hershkowitz eventually chooses a contract with ZICO, but why "Vita Coco was extremely ethnic, but ZICO had a more average and premium feeling, it was a sexy name than anything else "I tell you. Vita Coco who was dealt heavily at the beginning by ZICO taking a deal with Big Geyser, but soon was founded by Steve Gress, an employee of former Big GeyserExclusive BeverageWe have succeeded in concluding distribution agreement with.

Exclusive Beverage 's Gress is said to have been advancing the distribution contract to the point just before the ZICO contracted with Big Geyser, but suddenly it seems that ZICO unilaterally negotiated content was blanked. When I looked into "coconut water" at Google, I heard that Vita Coco came out at the very beginning, and soon decided to sign a distribution agreement with Vita Coco as a matter of something Gress says.

Unlike Big Geyser, Exclusive Beverage did not deal with many items, so Vita Coco quickly becomes popular item of Exclusive Beverage. Meanwhile, ZICO who won a contract with Big Geyser dealing with a lot of popular products, Rampolla says to Gress that he wants to destroy the contract with Big Geyser, he did not seem to deploy as he thought is.

Later, by July 2009 Vita Coco has grown to sell about 30,000 cases of coconut water each month in Boston, Miami, Los Angeles and three adjacent provinces of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, but at this point Vita There is little difference between Coco and ZICO's assessment of coconut water, and it has been a battle between the two companies for five years from the launch, New York Times.

◆ Coca-Cola acquisition of ZICO

BySebastian Thiel

Employees of Coca-Cola, the biggest soda maker in the US, like Zico's Coconut Water, which was at Yoga Studios, and in 2009 Coca-Cola bought about 20% of ZICO's stock for 8 million dollars (about 800 million Ten thousand yen), and in 2013Fully acquireddoing.

The news that Coca-Cola invested in ZICO seemed to be like the sound of a bell telling the end to Vita Coco, "I thought we were over," Kirban talked about the mental state of the time I will. But Vita Coco is also an investment companyVerlinvestWe have sold 20% of our company's stock for 2 million dollars (about 200 million yen), and it seems there was nothing to complain about financing. According to Verlinvest, it is said that Vita Coco had sold 600 thousand dollars a year (about 61 million yen) as of 2006, and it goes without saying that these achievements have decided investment.

In addition, in January 2010 Coca-Cola announced Coke-Zico. Vita Coco is driven by the need to take some new action and sells about 10% of the entire stock to celebrities such as Madonna, Demi Moore, Anthony Kaedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers, About 510 million yen) to collect funds and also to successfully create a big boom by having celebrities profess to be fans of their own brands.

Of course, this is not the only reason Vita Coco succeeded in survival, it is the third largest beverage maker in the US in June this yearDr Pepper Snapple GroupWe had a distribution agreement with, and had the right to further distribution contracts, so we succeeded in contracting with 45 independent distributors throughout the United States and gained broad support from all over the United States I will. And in July of 2014, Vita Coco sold 25% of its own stock to Red Bull China and succeeded in making sales footholds in the world's most populous country.

EuromonitorAccording to a survey, Vita Coco currently occupies over 60% of the coconut water market, while ZICO has less than about 20% share. Although there was a big difference between the two companies, it is a defeat that ZICO was forced to lay off an employee who knows ZICO well when ZICO was acquired by Coca-Cola, Kirban I am analyzing it.

Rampolla, founder of ZICO, says, "Coca-Cola is an adult, Coca-Cola wants to dance with ZICO, but ZICO is still an infant and at least he is a teenager to dance It is necessary to grow to about the same level, otherwise it will be crushed by an adult Coca-Cola, "ZICO states his own thought that ZICO was too early to sell.

"Coconut water will be a market of more than 1 billion dollars (about 100 billion yen) annually" is issuing the drink industry paperBevNetJohn Craven who is CEO at. Mr. Craven says, "Coconut water is not a new taste of Coke,Bud LightofLime-A-RitaBut it is not. However, it is popular among people on diet and has endurance, "explains how the coconut water is becoming a big presence in the beverage market. Apart from Coca-Cola's acquisition of ZICO, we will also sell Pepsi Cola etc. in 2010PepsiCoWas third in the coconut water market next to Vita Coco, ZICOO.N.E.We have acquired a majority of the shares of the company, and we can see that the two largest drinking companies are paying extraordinary attention to the coconut water.

The market value of Vita Coco's market is now increasing to about 665 million dollars (68 billion yen).