Listen up Hot Yogis, Athletes, College Beauties, Moms, Dads, Fitness Fanatics, and Coconut Water Fans – If you haven’t switched over to Harmless Harvest Coconut Water yet and are still drinking the “other” brands…I’ve got some compelling information about why you should, plus there is an awesome fashionable give away at the end of this post.
I realize that some of you may have never tried coconut water before, so all of this may be a bit intense… Hopefully this post will spark your curiosity in an amazing powerful drink that can be actually be good for you and your family if you choose carefully.
Earlier this year I had the pleasure to meet the founders of Harmless Harvest Coconut Water, Justin Guilbert and Doug Riboud. Besides just being really cool guys they are doing something absolutely remarkable. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to meet the founders of a food company before. I became smitten with their coconut water late last year, after my friend Rian who is a raw food chef and yoga teacher introduced it to me.
I had no idea that a company could actually bottle coconut water in the raw form. If I had closed my eyes, I could have sworn I was drinking straight from a coconut. I knew this at the time, because I had just returned from a month in Asia, where I drank a coconut almost everyday. Ever since finding Harmless Harvest and learning more about how coconut water is produced, I’ve never bought another brand of coconut water. Harmless Harvest coconut water is the only coconut water I recommend on my Food Babe’s Pantry Staples List.
Seeing other coconut water companies take advantage of the healthy benefits of coconut water for profit has become a serious issue. The issue can be seen in the latest attempts to “flavor” coconut water with “natural flavor” to cover up the source of their coconuts and/or including carcinogenic substances like the ingredient “carrageenan” (e.g. Zico’s latest chocolate flavor). Many coconut waters out there are made from concentrate, which means the coconut water is heated down to syrup and then reconstituted with water. Do you see something wrong with this picture? No wonder there is a huge discrepancy between different coconut water brands and why Harmless Harvest tastes better than the rest.
Other than the fact that Harmless Harvest is the only brand of coconut water I know of that is totally pure, raw and unadultered, there is one thing I have to mention that stands out for me. (Even though there are many other reasons to choose this brand over the rest – which you will hear about directly from Justin in a letter below in just a moment.)
Harmless Harvest doesn’t BS with us. One of the most interesting parts of their brand and website is the nutrition section where they don’t try to claim unsupported benefits of coconut water and provide information to decipher coconut bottle labels. They have gone the extra mile and clearly stated all the facts, so you the consumer can be informed about where coconut water comes from and how it is produced. They believe in us – me and you. This is a brand of the future and one that conventional companies out there should pay attention to and start to model themselves after. It’s just a matter of time, before everyone starts to demand this type of information about all of their food to avoid the tricks companies can play on us.
Before I share a letter directly from Justin Guilbert, the co-founder of Harmless Harvest with all of you, I just want to say I haven’t been compensated (other than stealing one of the giveaways) for this post. I truly believe in spreading the word about companies like this. The next time I drink Harmless Harvest I’ll be thinking of these pictures Justin sent over from their farms in Thailand.
Dear Food Babe Fans -
Doug Riboud and I created Harmless Harvest in 2009 with the mission to promote positive consumerism and natural capitalism, genuinely caring as much for the plants as for the people that live from them. With that in mind, we identified an opportunity to develop and market a category-changing functional beverage: the world’s first ready-to-drink raw coconut water. We saw coconut water filling more space on shelves, but nothing tasted like what we experienced drinking freshly-cracked nuts. To do this, it was pivotal to find a heatless way of providing coconut water, which meant finding the best coconuts possible. Without adding anything or using heat, our raw coconut water is only as good as the coconuts we source. Luckily, the best coconuts we could find fit perfectly with our green ambitions, the inhabitants of pristine wild ecosystems.
By working with people who shared our sentiments—real farmers, academics, scientists and raw-foodists—we established a system to sustain and deliver raw coconut water, maintaining the delicate volatile compounds that are the essence of its flavor. Additionally, the enzymes remain unaltered by temperature, retaining the nutritional benefits coveted in coconut water. Combining honored traditions of re-wilding and agroforestry with cutting edge scientific methods, we launched Harmless Harvest 100% Raw & Organic Coconut Water in August of 2011. The launch was a partnership with Whole Foods Market Northeast, and was so successful that we went nationwide in October. Our growth has been beyond anyone’s expectations, especially considering that we are implementing a revolutionary way of doing business.
By developing raw, unadulterated products, we are facilitating the relationship between people and plants, allowing consumers to add sustainable value to thriving wild ecosystems. Rather than building a brand, we rely on the honesty of our products to speak for themselves. When our coconut water turns pink due to high antioxidant levels, we tell our consumers why, rather than covering up the natural color change with additives. We trust the quality of our product to such an extent that we believe the best marketing is No Marketing. In this way, consumers buy what’s inside the bottle, not what the bottle promises. Our success is an encouraging proof that a radically progressive marketing-free company can achieve mainstream success without having to compromise on social, environmental and economic values.
Justin Guilbert
Co-founder of Harmless Harvest
So here’s the exciting part… Harmless Harvest has sent me the cutest shirts + free coconut water coupons to give away to 9 lucky Food Babe readers! (They actually sent me 10 shirts, but I kept one, because it’s too adorable!) Your chances to win are huge!
(If you don’t know where Harmless Harvest is sold near you, you can use their handy dandy locator on their website. Here in Charlotte, you can find it at Healthy Home Market & Fresh Market)
I wore my shirt as a beach cover up one day last weekend and the other day I tied it up cute in the back… I love the phrase “I’m Harmless” on the back.
All Subscribers, Facebook Fans and/or Twitter Fans who leave a comment below by Friday, June 15 are eligible to win. Feel free to say anything, anything at all… but I would love to know what you think food companies could do in the future to make your life easier.
Harmless Harvest has certainly made my life easier, thank goodness I can put away my machete and grab one of these….
Good Luck!
Food Babe
P.S. Please give some love to Harmless Harvest directly by following them on Twitter or ‘liking” them on Facebook and spread the word of this giveaway!
I found it at Whole Foods in NJ – woohoo!! It is delicious! My 7 year old daughter said it was the best she ever tasted
You won!!! Please send me your address. mail@foodbabe.com
I just found your blog and LOVE it! Can’t wait to try this brand. The thing these companies can do to make life easier is be honest. Stop finding new words for chemicals in hopes of “hiding” them. Tell the truth and let the consumer make the choice. Don’t see that happening though.
You won!! Please send your address to mail@foodbabe.com
Hi Foodbabe! I love, love, love your blog! I am a vegan living in South Korea and at times it can be so trying. Limited access to fresh produce and when I do find it, it’s expensive and not in season. I love eating local and seasonally so I just started my own rooftop garden. I would love, love, love the t-shirt. A huge fan of coconut milk, when I get back to the states next month I will for sure be checking it out!
Cheers!
Natt
I have to check their locator – hopefully I will be able to find some in Maine! YUM!
Awesome coconut water….awesome blog….awesome YOU! Thank you for doing what you do!
Food companies should label GM ingredients. More companies should be like this one, with less ingredients and more whole food.
Your blog is wonderful, so informative! And you are super cute lady!
I had to open up your blog in the middle of the health food store to get the name of the coconut water! They had it hidden away behind all the flashy concentrates! Can’t wait to try it.
Your blog is amazing! You have inspired me to start juicing again and my goal is to be completely organic and natural by the end of this year. Thank you! I’d love to win some of this product! I currently drink Zico, but looking for something better.
Just found your blog the other day and I love it! Really liked the article about Subway. I thought it was one of the healthier choices to let my kids eat
. They aren’t too crazy about all of the raw recipes I have been trying. I love coconut water and am looking forward to trying the Harmless Harvest brand! I agree with Kathy that companies should be more honest about the ingredients in their products! Scary to think about what is actually in our food! Thanks for sharing such great information!
You won!!! Please send me your address to mail@foodbabe.com
Hi! HONEST food labels would be awesome! YAY for companies like HH. I do love their product.
I found the coconut water by accident the same day I read this post so I had to try it. I could definitely tell the difference between the Harmless Harvest and other coconut waters. I loved it.
I love the Harmless coconut water. I don’t buy any other brand because it doesn’t even taste good. Harmless tastes almost as fresh as when you chop a Thai coconut open and stick a straw in it. Great product!!
I just ordered a couple of cases of this on your recommendation – I cannot wait to try it! I’m excited to give it to my kids at sport meets.
I looked and looked for Harmless Harvest yesterday at Whole Foods in TX:( I can’t wait to try them when I find them!
I can’t wait to go to whole foods and try this water!!!
What a fun giveaway!
So this is awesome. I’ve been buying young thais coconuts at healthy home market and going through the ridiculous ordeal of opening them in order to have coconut water a few times a week. (the meat goes in smoothies and makes them soooooo creamy.) Since the process is such a pain, coconut water has become my weekly “treat.” Yay! I will definitely be going to HHM or Fresh Market this weekt o stock up. Can’t believe I didn’t read this post before.
So glad to see a highly recommended, quality coconut water brand. I will be looking online to order some soon. I loooove coconut water, and you are right- it is almost impossible to find any that don’t have a bunch of icky additives or artificial flavors. I wish food & supplement companies would have more transparent ingredient labels.
Thank you so much, Food Babe! I finally found this coconut water at Fairway. I have never been impressed with coconut water…..until I tried this one. Even my six and five year old boys had seconds! Fantastic! Thanks for the recommendation.
I have become addicted to this and now my local fresh market is not carrying it anymore. I am so disappointed and do not know where else to find it…I live in vero beach florida and if you know of a place that sells it lmk.