TAJA Coconut launches first-ever cold-filtered coconut beverages

22 Feb 2019 --- Organic coconut water brand TAJA Coconut has launched a non-GMO, sugar-free, bottled coconut water. The company uses a patented cold-filtered three-part process to extract the coconut water while keeping all the nutrients intact by avoiding the application of heat, air or additives. TAJA Coconut claims to be the world’s first all-natural, cold-filtered, non-pasteurized coconut water. According to the company, it “harvests each coconut at an age which delivers a balanced flavor and crystal-clear color.”

The natural image of plant-based waters is driving NPD in the beverage space and this is reflected in the leading health claims, with no additives/preservatives used for 40 percent of H1 2017 launches and natural for 29 percent, according to data from Innova Market Insights. Coconut water, which seemingly started the plant-derived movement, is still gaining traction.

“Though our process isn’t the easiest way to harvest coconut water, purity is at the heart of everything we do, and we will take every step necessary to preserve the nutrients of the coconut and most importantly, its true and pure taste,” says Hallie Lorber, President of TAJA. “The decision behind our clear bottles also highlights our commitment toward 100 percent transparency to consumers and to delivering the freshest coconut water possible.”

In the coconut water category, “the shelf-stable space is very competitive, but there are few players in the chilled space,” Lorber tells NutritionInsight. “Chilled coconut water has driven the total category, dollar sales, register rings and liquid consumption dollar sales at 312 percent over the past four years. Also, the average retail price for chilled is US$4.13 per unit versus shelf stable at US$2.26.” 

This is a great story for retailers when they can increase velocity and margin dollars through chilled beverages, she says.

“We work with local coconut tree farmers in India, to help neutralize and improve each coconut tree’s soil condition. Within 48 hours of being picked, TAJA’s coconuts are delivered to their factory and bottled using our patented cold-filtered process,” Lorber notes. TAJA also minimizes waste by grinding empty coconut shells into compost for organic fertilizer that is then given back to coconut farmers to be used to enrich the soil for further growth.

TAJA’s Founder Nilang Patel also comments: “After a few years of research, investigation and taste testing, we developed a technology that allows coconut water to remain exactly as nature intended – raw, clean and pure.”

TAJA’s process allows the company to innovate and launch many healthy, all natural beverages infused with fresh fruit, flowers and leafy products, according to Lorder.

“Our packaging was designed with two things in mind – consumer experience and sustainability. Unlike all other competing brands, our bottle mirrors the triangular/oblong shape of tender green coconuts and is clear so consumers can see exactly what they are drinking. The second is to support our sustainability initiative by ensuring our packaging is fully recyclable,” Lorder comments.

In the case of sensitive products like coconut water manufacturers often use packaging that contains contaminants like colorants, oxygen scavengers, or other additives. This reduces recycling efficiency and sometimes renders packaging completely unrecyclable. “Our PET bottle contains no additives ensuring no contamination to the recycling stream. Beverage brands typically use shrink sleeve labels made of PETG (Glycol Modified PET) which hinders recycling as PETG does not crystallize like PET and is not compatible with the PET recycling stream. Most recyclers sort out bottles with shrink sleeves and they end up in landfills. We use crystallizable PET for our shrink label. This label is fully compatible with PET recycling stream,” she continues. 

“In addition, since our bottles have no additives, it will result in recycled PET (rPET) of equal quality as virgin PET resin without any impact to PET color (yellowness) or any black contamination which is typically generated when PET with additives is processed, meaning our bottle will have no negative impact on the quality of PET stream. Our product can be recycled multiple times and as a result, it has one of the lowest carbon footprints among other packaging forms. We are currently the only beverage company in the US to use this type of material,” she explains.  

TAJA is available for purchase online and at select retail stores throughout the US Midwest with plans of expanding nationally. Pricing on individual bottles vary from US$3.49 to US$3.99 and are sold in cases of 12 for US$53.99. 

By Elizabeth Green