After the 315 incident, coconut water adulteration continues.

Ask AI · Why is it difficult to thoroughly regulate the source of coconut water adulteration?

Author | Guo Ji’an

Around the 315 Consumer Rights Day this year, a series of scandals in the 100% coconut water industry were directly exposed. Discussions about authentic versus fake coconut water also spread widely among consumers. Multiple topics trended on hot searches, and the debate about adding sugar and water to coconut water was reignited among consumers.

Is it still safe to buy coconut water? Is there hope for this industry? Spicy Doujiao visited various upstream and downstream practitioners in the coconut water industry to try to answer this question.

Among several coconut water brands, only Coconut Know accepted our interview invitation and revealed more behind-the-scenes truths of the industry.

“Counterfeiting is still ongoing.”

Guo Hong, founder of Coconut Know, did not hide: “Many e-commerce and retail channels, driven by profit, find it hard to give up low-priced counterfeit coconut water and continue to sell it.”

“But Changdonglai has already removed all coconut water from shelves, some top streamers’ channels have also fully stopped sales, and they require partners to provide more comprehensive testing reports, such as ‘Luo Yonghao’s Friends Live Room’.”

Coconut Know is also the first brand recently approved by top streamers. On April 1st, Coconut Know entered Luo Yonghao’s live broadcast room, where Luo frequently made witty remarks: ‘Some friends have been badly cheated by unscrupulous merchants. Their first reaction is to ask if 100% scented coconut water is a registered trademark. It’s pitiful. Chinese consumers are really pitiful sometimes. And Coconut Know led the drafting of China’s first coconut water standard, which is a very valuable achievement.’

“Many industry practitioners have very low bottom lines; it’s really dark.” Guo Hong said: “The reason I spent so much time cleaning up the supply chain is because that’s where the counterfeiting originates.”

Coconut Know revealed to us that the difficulty in eliminating counterfeits does not lie in the factory filling process but much earlier, in the raw material stage of opening coconuts for water.

From a brand perspective, their ultimate solution is—comprehensive regulation and stricter testing.

It is understood that current national inspection and quarantine of imported raw materials mainly focus on basic food safety issues, such as whether microbial, heavy metals, pesticide residues, etc., exceed standards. Complete testing to distinguish genuine coconut water raw materials should include isotopes of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, as well as maltose and reducing sugars, to comprehensively determine whether external sugars and water have been added. But these further tests are not yet included in the national standards.

Currently, the industry’s accepted method is to conduct comprehensive testing through EU testing agencies, “The cost per test is about 10k–20k yuan, with a cycle of about two weeks, which most brands can afford,” said Coconut Know.

In the interview, we also learned that pregnant women are one of the largest consumer groups for coconut water. However, abnormal high sugar content in fake coconut water may cause blood sugar spikes after drinking, posing a greater risk for pregnant women with gestational diabetes.

“I myself became a new mom this year. My original intention in running a business was to provide truly pure natural coconut water for those in need. Many mothers buy coconut water to avoid sugary drinks, but due to the fake coconut water problem, they end up consuming even more sugar. Most consumers cannot accept such a scam,” Guo Hong said.

Spicy Doujiao: Currently, after the exposure, many brands face large-scale questioning. Will brands dare to fake in the future? Can users buy with confidence?

Coconut Know: Not necessarily. Many brands still hold a fluke mentality, thinking as long as market regulation doesn’t come knocking and they don’t trace back to their production bases, they can pretend not to know. They plan to sell their current stock first, make money, and deal with issues later. Many e-commerce and retail channels, driven by profit, find it hard to give up low-priced counterfeit coconut water and continue to sell it.

(Image from the internet)

Spicy Doujiao: So they’re not afraid of sudden government inspections or consumer reports after standards are established, leading to higher compensation?

Coconut Know: Currently, standards are not yet established. To change, there are only two options: one is to switch to genuine raw materials, which would significantly increase costs and make it impossible to cover the retail price; the other is to alter the ingredient list, which is equivalent to admitting previous adulteration and would lead to faster demise. So many brands are gambling now, even trying to bypass government inspections. We know that some brands have even prepared a batch of genuine coconut water specifically for testing to meet channel inspection requirements.

Spicy Doujiao: Where is the main source of adulteration?

Coconut Know: It’s mainly at the raw material end. Usually, the coconut water raw material sourcing factory and the filling factory are separate. Many raw materials are mixed with flavorings, sugars, water, and other external substances before being sent to the filling factory, then labeled as 100% coconut water. Checking only the filling factory makes it hard to detect issues. The water extraction factories are more complex to manage, often operating at multiple sites simultaneously, making it difficult to prevent loopholes in unseen corners.

Spicy Doujiao: Does the authenticity and origin of raw materials matter? Many consumers are shocked to learn that even Thai local brands might be faking.

Coconut Know: It doesn’t matter. Abroad, the risk of traceability is even higher. Some overseas companies bring their brands for factory inspections, claiming to use real coconut water, but in places unseen by the brand, they replace it with synthetic water. We once purchased raw materials from Thailand, and after testing, found adulteration. When we confronted the supplier, they even sent us a stamped statement claiming authenticity, but refused to admit the truth. Only after showing them the test report did they admit. Since then, we have controlled the entire chain from the water source.

Spicy Doujiao: How can brands ensure that the raw materials they receive are genuine?

Coconut Know: To eliminate adulteration, we can only choose to overhaul the entire supply chain. We control the source in Thailand and Hainan, ensuring raw material output matches production volume. We monitor transportation times, routes, and final raw material quantities to prevent substitution or water addition. The finished products are sampled and sent to a third-party testing agency in France—Eurofins—for verification, ensuring authenticity. Every step has tasters and supervisors to ensure strict quality control.

Spicy Doujiao: For consumers, is it still difficult to distinguish 100% coconut water from fake?

Coconut Know: It is indeed challenging. It requires all market participants—brands, channels—to raise their standards. Some top channels and streamers have already started strengthening their entry standards for coconut water products. As we know, Changdonglai has already removed all previously operated coconut water products. Some channels that were reluctant to cooperate with expensive genuine 100% coconut water are now willing to establish partnerships, recognizing that ‘you get what you pay for.’ Recently, Coconut Know’s 100% scented coconut water has also entered Xiaoxiang Supermarket.

(Image from Changdonglai mini-program search results)

Coconut Know entered Xiaoxiang Supermarket

Spicy Doujiao: What new requirements do these channels have when choosing to cooperate with coconut water brands?

Coconut Know: We recently partnered with Luo Yonghao. The reason for choosing him is because our values align. Luo Yonghao, as an advocate for consumer rights online, once said, “Consumers need the right to know,” and the same applies to coconut water: I’m not against blending drinks, but you can’t sell “sugar water” as “coconut water” to me.

After the 315 incident, Luo Yonghao’s team has been very strict in reviewing coconut water products, requiring submission of various documents such as production process records, batch management, import flow records, and sales ledgers. We submitted all materials, annual batch reports, Eurofins’ authenticity reports, and third-party “Dad’s Review” testing reports. Only after passing all these did we succeed in product selection. Before this, Dad’s Review had never tested any coconut water products; this was the first time they certified Coconut Know’s “100% scented coconut water” through random sampling. These multiple proofs also ensured our recognition by top streamers.

(Image provided by Coconut Know)

Spicy Doujiao: From a pricing perspective, what is considered the genuine market price?

Coconut Know: Currently, the cost of scented coconut water raw materials shipped back to China is about 10,000 yuan per ton, so the retail price for 100% scented coconut water won’t be lower than 25 yuan per liter. If it’s regular coconut water with no added ingredients and still very sweet and tasty, it’s mostly fake.

Spicy Doujiao: Why is it so expensive?

Coconut Know: The concept of good-tasting 100% coconut water usually refers to scented coconut water. The raw materials for scented coconut are expensive; the shells and by-products after water extraction have limited secondary value, and the origin is mainly Thailand, involving transportation and processing costs. Coconuts from Indonesia and Vietnam are mainly used for coconut meat, and their water is a by-product that’s hard to taste good. Cheap old coconuts need flavor adjustments to avoid sourness. Green coconuts from Hainan are mostly supplied directly to tourist spots and rarely enter the market as coconut water products.

Spicy Doujiao: Which testing agencies are industry-recognized? There are different versions of tests on the market; which should consumers trust?

Coconut Know: Currently, tests from France’s Eurofins are relatively more authoritative. The testing not only checks isotopes but also reduces sugars like maltose, including component analysis of the product. After obtaining data, it’s compared with the “component” analysis of the original coconut fruit. A total of 129 professional items need to be tested to see if there’s any abnormal data, which can fully confirm whether external substances have been added. Of course, some tests only measure a few indicators, and there are many reports on single isotope testing. We consulted authoritative scholars in coconut research, and nutrition expert Guo Zhongyi has written in-depth analysis. Reports that only test a single isotope are less accurate. They are prone to deviations and have low credibility. In other words, isotope testing does not equal authenticity testing.

Therefore, to ensure coconut water products are free from added sugars and water, comprehensive mixed testing is necessary. The previous Dad’s Review sampling was the most complete, and this is also the standard for top streamers’ review.

Spicy Doujiao: Many users have not realized they are drinking fake coconut water. Does fake coconut water pose health risks?

Coconut Know: Because external sugars are added