First of all, the bottle is entirely made of plastic, with an extra plastic coating (the label) on the outside. The bottle's plastic is extremely cheap looking and feeling, very flimsy, and to those that know about plastic, it's not really good to drink from plastic bottles. As I took the first sip, I could smell the plastic in the coconut water. The company do say they don't use BPA in their plastic, which is definitely great yes, but why could I still taste and smell something chemical? My instinct told me that this was not a really good quality coconut water.
Then I looked at the ingredients, which did say the coconuts were harvested from Young Green Coconuts, but it's not pure coconut water, its from concentrate. So means it's mixed in with water to dilute it. And for those that are into health, (and good quality) if you ever buy juice, you will know that juice made from concentrate, is not the healthiest form. You want it to be 100% pure.
The company do say this about their concentrate process, but it still just does not sit well with me. Removing the coconut water, is a big mistake because you ARE removing the health benefits, A drink from a real coconut, cannot be compared with something that has removed the bulk of the coconut water, then has water added back in. What water? Water from a tap, or the coconut water back in? I am pretty sure that they have added plain old water back in.
"From concentrate” simply means that the coconut water has had most of the water removed during the production process so that it could be more easily transported and stored, and then has had water added back into it later in the production process to bring it back to the same nutritional profile as the original coconut water. Removing water and then adding it back in does nothing to reduce the benefits of the coconut water.''
They also say they use 'natural flavours' but this term, is really misused in the 'health' world and they can still be synthesised in a lab and not actually truly natural. It seems that they aren't disclosing the truth about what that natural flavouring is.
The actual taste of the coconut water is unlike any other brands I have tried. It's simply not nice and tastes very watery - you know if someone gives you a juice that has too much water mixed in with it, the taste is just not there? It's just like that! And, we don't even know what sort of water is used with Zico. I know that its bottled in the USA and USA water ways have some of the worst tap waters in the world, full of fluoride and many other toxic chemicals. If they used spring water, I could at least say something positive about that but I can't.
Because of the packaging, with the flimsy plastic label, it makes much more waste than the average bottle would. It's a brand that seems to be wanting to come across as super healthy yet why didn't they consider making the bottle with less plastic? Well it seems to me, that the company just wants to make money, but doesn't want the people who purchase the product, to actually get what their money is worth.
The coconuts are sourced from Indonesia and Thailand, and there is no mention of fair trade agreements. I would bet that the people who 'hand harvest' the coconuts, aren't exactly paid well and gosh, are there children involved too? I would love to hear the companies response about this factor.
So many others who have tested out Zico, feel the same way too, I have been checking other reviews and I am not alone with being really disappointed by this brand.
Zico does, and will appeal to many, because of it's huge and expensive marketing campaign - some celebrities have been photographed with the bottles and this always makes the average person think well if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. But if you really know your coconut waters (say you have tried Vita Coco or Dr Coco) then you will know that you just can't compare the quality or the taste.
One good thing about the bottle is its made out of recycled plastic and can also be recycled after use, but the feel of the bottle (so weak and cheap looking) still does not sit well with me.
They do explain on their website why they don't like to use carton bottles http://zico.com/products/faqs and their explanation does seem to have some valid points but I just can't feel ok drinking out of this type of bottle. I had a friend here, as well as my husband and we all tried it together and thought that same thing - that it tastes bland, is not pure coconut water and has a chemical taste from the flimsy plastic.
I usually give my dog coconut water, as she loves it but I wouldn't even give her any of this. The rest of my bottles have gone in the bin to be recycled- no one wants to drink them at my house!
Whatever plastic is used takes a lot of petrol to make it and if you like, you can see how much petrol is used to make 1 kg of plastic to bottle the zico coconut water :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_polyethylene
So, in my opinion, as well as friends and my hubby, we would never drink this again, even if we were given it for free!
