NEW YORK (Commodity Online): "Madonna has become so nuts for coconut water that she invested about $1.5 mn in one of the leading makers of the drink which has taken Hollywood and The Big Apple by storm, The New York Post learned. Indeed what the paper learned is true as Vita Coco has come out with the announcement of not only Madonna but also a few other high-profile investors in the five year old New York beverage company: Entertainment Manager Guy Osear brought in Matthew McConaughey, Demi Moore and Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis apart from his client Madonna as Vita Coco investors.

This group of investors chose to invest because they’ve all been brand loyalists, drink Vita Coco regularly and believe in the growth potential of the Vita Coco brand,” stated Michael Kirban, a founder of Vita Coco. 

Fresh coconut water, extracted from young green coconuts (not brown ones) has grown increasingly popular as both a lifestyle beverage and a natural sports drink. “Each of these investors not only validates the Vita Coco brand, but the category of natural-functional beverages as well,” according to Micheal Kirban, founder of Vita Coco.

Vita Coco is currently sold at over 14,000 retailers nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, Safeway, Giant Eagle, Ralph’s, Shaw’s, Stop&Shop/Giant, HEB, Hannaford Supermarkets, ACME and Shop Rite, as well as on Amazon.com.

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Early next month, Vita Coco will be available for sale in over 1,300 GNC stores nationwide. “GNC’s motto is ‘Live Well,’ and as the leading vitamin, supplement and sports nutrition chain, I can’t think of a finer retail partner as the Vita Coco brand grows nationally,” notes Kirban. “GNC’s product education programs will ensure that new consumers learn about the healthful benefits of Vita Coco.”

Vita Coco—all-natural, 100% pure coconut water—has for many consumers become the best alternative to sports drinks and enhanced bottled waters. One reason: an 11.2-ounce/330-ml serving size of Vita Coco contains almost 700 mg of potassium, approximately 15 times more than the average sports drink in a similar serving size.

The story of Vita Coco
One evening in a Manhattan bar in February 2003, childhood friends, Ira Liran and Michael Kirban, were speaking with a couple of girls they had just met from Brazil. When asked what they missed most about their country, one of the girls, without hesitation, answered "agua de coco." Coconut water, she explained, is the most nutritious and delicious drink in the world.

Two months later, Liran traveled to Brazil and started researching the prospect of branding coconut water for the American market. He realized the girl's enthusiasm for the beverage was not exaggerated—Brazilians just can't get enough coconut water. After spending several months working with coconut plantations and producers, making connections, and learning the politics of production in Brazil, Vita Coco was born.

Meanwhile, Kirban started the initial market research in New York. Meeting with distributors and beverage insiders, he quickly realized the tremendous consumer interest in "functional beverages." He spoke with several distributors who then introduced Kirban to some of their key accounts. The response was fantastic.

Two years later in 2005, the two successfully brought Vita Coco to market in a handful of stores along the East Coast. Since that fateful night in Soho in 2003, Vita Coco has not only carved a new market in the non-carbonated beverage business and redefined the alternative sports beverage category, but has also created the one of the fastest growing lifestyle beverages in North America.

Vita Coco's popularity only continues to increase as it has a 60% market share. Vita Coco is a major beverage brand with a cult-like brand loyalty. Of all the coconut water brands presently sold in the U.S., Vita Coco is the only brand with its own production facility, allowing Vita Coco to directly manage quality control, new flavor development and special packaging. (Courtesy: PRNewswire, Vita Coco)

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