Previously known for bikini tops and one of Harry Nilsson’s hit songs, coconuts have gained a much more respectable persona in the minds of U.S. consumers within the past several years.
New York-based Vita Coco announced the departure of Jeff B. Popkin, the company's president for the U.S. Popkin joined Vita Coco in September 2011 as vice president of sales and was promoted to president for the US in August 2012.
New York-based All Market Inc., doing business as Vita Coco, announced that it has sold 25 percent of the company to Reignwood Group, the Beijing-based parent company of Red Bull China, at an enterprise valuation of approximately $665 million.
Ten years ago, U.S. consumers might have thought you were a bit “nutty” if you told them that coconut water would be a multimillion-dollar beverage category one day. In fact, Vita Coco Co-founders Michael Kirban and Ira Liran didn’t even believe it at that time.
As a father to a 2-year-old daughter and an 11-month-old son, Vita Coco Co-Founder Michael Kirban was concerned about the number of artificial, sugary drinks marketed to children.