Beverage brand CocoCoast is targeting $200 million in annual revenue within five years, aiming to exploit gaps in the US beverage market as offshore brands gradually withdraw amid tariff disruption.
The company is one of Australia’s largest independent beverage exporters and produces the world’s largest coconut water range. It currently sells around 50 million cans annually across 20 European and Asia-Pacific markets, in turn generating annual revenue of about $25 million.
CocoCoast has recently accelerated its expansion through new distribution deals inked across its offshore markets. With the gaps identified in the US beverage scene, co-founder Damian Russell says they are finally returning to the market after an 18-month hiatus amid uncertainty over import tariffs and landed costs.
“These gaps have helped create the right conditions for our brand to re-enter the market. The challenge in the US wasn’t demand but the uncertainty around what a shipment was ultimately going to cost when it landed,” he stated.
Speaking about returning to a market where CocoCoast has built a database of around 600 consumers, Russell said, “We still receive messages from people asking when they can buy CocoCoast in the US again, so we are not rebuilding the market from a standing start.”
The company has also appointed a new Seattle-based distributor to target Washington and Oregon in the first stage, choosing to rebuild its presence selectively rather than immediately pushing for national distribution. It targets approximately US$500,000 in first-year US sales, planning an Amazon launch within six months of its first shipments landing.
The US strategy forms part of CocoCoast’s broader global plan, as the brand aims for $60 million in annual revenue from the UK and Europe alone, representing around 30 per cent of its global revenue target, which increased by a solid 53 per cent last year.
On that note, Russell calls the company’s five-year ambition “a substantial increase” from where it is today. Yet he still believes its biggest opportunities are in markets much larger than Australia.
“We have spent more than a decade proving the model here. The next stage is about taking that model offshore and building much greater scale.”
Europe, meanwhile, has become the company’s particular focus as the coconut water category is gradually emerging there.
“We will measure success by repeat purchase, rate of sale and profitable market depth. The aim is to build sustainable markets rather than simply add more flags to the map,” Russell added.
CocoCoast says its offshore strategy will follow the model used to build the Australian business, establishing through independent, specialist and online channels before navigating into larger retail networks.
- Further reading: CocoCoast introduces limited-edition coffee flavoured coconut water.
