| Harmless Harvest How to source the world’s best coconut waterĬoconuts grow in tropical coastal regions around the world, from Southeast Asia to South America. Harmless Harvest is working toward zero-waste status with its new organic coconut range. This renders it quite different from the straight-from-the-coconut flavor the founders craved. Thermal pasteurization, which was the industry standard at the time, alters the taste of the water. (Ounce per ounce, coconut water contains about half as much sugar as the average fruit juice.)īut when Guilbert and Riboud launched their business in 2011, they found the coconut waters available on U.S. Its nutritive value proposition beats them both. Over the past decade or so, coconut water has challenged sugary sports drinks and fruit juices as a post-workout pick-me-up. It’s naturally hydrating with electrolytes, including potassium, a mineral which most American diets lack. Coconut water was gaining popularity internationally for its unique nutritional properties. “That’s when they said, ‘Wait a minute - we need to do coconut water.’” “What they quickly realized was, ‘Wow, these coconut waters are really terrible,’” Mand says, recalling what was readily available in supermarkets at the time. In experimenting with recipes, they began blending the acidic fruits with coconut water. They journeyed to South America to explore the possibilities of various superfruits. Guilbert and Riboud zeroed in on food and beverage. All the way through the value chain, from the farmer to the consumer, how do we make sure that we leave everybody in a better place - not just the financial investors.” For them it was about constructive capitalism. “ the founders, Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud, did not have a product in mind they had a business model in mind. And all are naturally packed with hydrating electrolytes.ĭelicious and kindly made, the new yogurt and smoothie products are a natural extension of the brand’s sustainability mission, which, Mand explains, actually sparked the creation of the company. As Brian Ng, Head of Technology Innovation & Product Optimization explains: “The meat from our coconuts tastes really different from what people usually think coconut meat tastes like it’s tender, sweet, and refreshing.” That translates to creamy coconut yogurts that aren’t too fatty or heavy, and perfectly pink smoothies made by blending the coconut meat and water. Part of what’s made the new whole-coconut product range so successful is the uniqueness of Harmless Harvest’s coconuts (more about these guys below) and the company’s commitment to single-sourcing. And, each food product is vegan-friendly, completely free from animal products, and made with an eye toward sustainability. Even the sinuous hull is repurposed for compost or converted into other value-add bioproducts. To help work toward zero-waste status, Mand oversaw the launch of a host of new products-incuding cup yogurt, drinkable yogurt, and most recently, a smoothie-in an effort to make use of the whole coconut as opposed to just its water. Our mandate is, ‘How do we start using more of it? How do we get to zero-waste?’” Mand explains. “, we weren’t even using most of the coconut. Mand and the Harmless Harvest team have taken this sustainability mandate into new territory this past year with a delectable array of new innovations. But we take that as our North Star - how can we be better? It’s actually a really wonderful beacon.” And I would be the first to tell you that nobody’s harmless, including us. As CEO Ben Mand, who took the helm in 2018, puts it, “Harmless Harvest is a very lofty goal. The taste is not unlike that of a young Thai coconut that’s been freshly hacked open, served straight-up with a straw on a beach in Koh Samui.īut while superior taste has always been top of mind for Harmless Harvest’s leadership team, their devotion to quality is surpassed only by their commitment to sustainability - from the production to the packaging. If you, like us, have ever sipped Harmless Harvest coconut water, one main question has probably come to mind: “How do they get it to taste so good?” Indeed, the Oakland, CA-based brand sells coconut water that’s lightly sweet, refreshing, and often, pleasantly pink.
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