Vita Coco 750ml PET bottle

Vita Coco is set to roll out a ‘disruptive’ new pack format, which European CEO Giles Brook hopes will be instrumental in the brand’s “next evolution”.

Marking the first time Vita Coco has poured its product into PET bottle or offered a 750ml variant, the tapered take-home pack will have an rsp of £2.99 to create a cheaper entry point for new consumers than the brand’s one-litre cartons (rsp: £3.49).

Further sizes of the bottle would follow, and they would complement the brand’s cartons, not replace them, Brook told The Grocer. “Different consumers want different pack types,” he said, expecting the new format to pull extra shoppers into the coconut water category. “The best example would be Coca-Cola: there’s significant difference between people who want the glass bottle and those who prefer PET or can. In healthy drinks, we’re seeing exactly the same thing.”

Set to be marketed with the strapline ‘Fresh new look, same great taste’, the new bottle had a bulbous, propriety design meant to appear disruptive on shelf but also be space-efficient, said Brook, who recently stepped down as a partner with Urban Fresh Foods to concentrate on his role at Vita Coco, which has seen value sales slip 5.8% to £29m [Nielsen 52 w/e 8 October 2016]. 

Pack format would “incredibly important” for the brand’s “next evolution” as it sought to be “synonymous with all things coconut”, Brook added. He predicted the coming five years would see secondary and tertiary brands falling away from the coconut water category, leaving only the leading brands and own label options.