ZICO is a renowned premium coconut water company operating in the U.S. and available in more than 10,000 retail locations nationwide.
A pioneer of the category in the U.S., ZICO offers both shelf-stable and refrigerated products through leading retail and e-commerce channels. Following its relaunch under founder-led ownership, the company is expanding distribution to capture market share in the better-for-you beverage market.
Why we invested
ZICO was founded in 2004 and acquired by The Coca Cola Company in 2013. In 2020, following Coca Cola’s decision to discontinue the brand as part of a strategic focus on its core brands, the company’s original founder, Mark Rampolla, reacquired ZICO and relaunched it in 2021. Since then, the brand has reestablished a strong growth trajectory, expanding to more than 10,000 retail locations across the U.S., including Albertsons, Costco, Walmart, Kroger and Trader Joe’s, among other.
Glisco identified ZICO as an opportunity to invest in a legacy consumer brand with an experienced management team and shareholders, a strong brand recognition, a differentiated product portfolio, and its own coconut water extraction infrastructure in Thailand. As the fastest-growing beverage category in the U.S., coconut water continues to benefit from strong consumer demand, and ZICO, growing nearly five times faster than the category, is well positioned to continue capturing market share.
