( The picture is by Kishore, shot at the Nandi Hills, close to Bengaluru, India )
Apparently the cool tender coconut, that you find being sold for about Rs 10 a nut on the roadside,in India, has become hot news in the United States.The tender coconut's water is touted as the new fail safe Isotonic panacea and is said to deal with a wide variety of health issues ranging from kidney stones to diabetes to being a rich source of potassium.
The tender coconut is receiving a great deal of attention as it is being associated with a host of Hollywood celebrities from Madonna to Demi Moore. No more carbonated drinks for them, tender coconut water is the new flavour of season.
This has caused a host of folk scurrying to market bottled coconut water post which you will have folk branding the stuff and carrying out a high profile marketing campaign where you will see, guys or better still pretty girls,with bronzed sweat stained bodies & skimpy outfits, amidst a game of beach volleyball, endorsing the new exilir! The process of getting the stuff into little bottles will be patented and will create issues of IPR across the world. There is also sure to be a great deal of media coverage talking about celebrities experience with the tender coconut and its benefits to one's health and otherwise.
All this while, the poor Indian, continues to sell his nut, on probably an old bicycle for Rs.10, on a hot afternoon, to tired pedestrians, by the wayside, storing the shell for firewood and after removing the meat which makes a delightful snack.
I'm amazed at the Americans chutzpah to exploit the mundane and create an industry where none existed, surrounded by hype, hoopla and glitz.The coconut is not new to us, but did we create a buzz around the nut? No way!It, probably been quietly drunk in this part of the world for centuries.For that you need to be an entrepreneur and an MBA from a premier B School, hopefully from the USA!It is also not surprising as why you have boom-bust cycles in quick succession, where virtual industries disappear causing immense pain to the poor bystander.
Carrying out a quick SWOT Analysis, what is the 'weakness' that the coconut water faces? Apparently some Americans feel it tastes like 'smelly unwashed socks', which throws up the fundamental question: 'Why in the first place do they chew on, dirty socks?'
4 comments:
We do not acknowledge and respect what we have and it is a pity that white skin qualifies the standards for us. We do not need MBA from US to respect our heritage but instead learn to take pride in our Rich Heritage.
I love the eating the socks bit... at the end..
Thanks................AAK, still have to do that phone chat with u!How are things?
The socks, yup, at my sarky best!
Hi Nagaraj,
We did not know that the humble coconut had so much nutritional value. We have became a generation where things must be packaged and advertised and hype created , then we will appreciate and buy it.
regards
Padmanabh
so thats that taste. i always wondered what it was.....
anyway
i have seen 2 distinctive products
one was where the guy pasteurized the water for preservation and sold in tin cans to arab nations but tasted like coconut oil even with different flavors
second one was a sachet for Rs. 10 and to be mixed with a glass of water to get the taste and feel
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