Tropicana Coco Quench

There is new beverage in town. Actually it is an old all time natural favorite and a healthy one too that we buy every weekend from buko vendors selling along side our roads. It's the coco fruit from the coco tree, it's the coconut. Now it's in a tetra pack product locally introduced by Pepsi Philippines, Tropicana Coco Quench.
It comes with two sizes, a 330ml and 1L pack.




Here are the contents/ingredients comparison of the coconut fruit and the Tropicana Product. Here you can find information here or alternative site.

Content	Coconut Fruit	Tropicana
Juice	1. Coconut water (water, sugar, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, lipid, minerals, vitamins, amino acid)	1. Coconut Water (water, sugar, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, lipid, minerals, vitamins, amino acid) 2. Reconstituted Coconut Water (lesser nutritional values vs fresh coconut)
Others	1.  Coconut raw meat (water, sugar, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, lipid, minerals, vitamins, amino acid)	1.Sodium Metabisulfite (as per Wikipedia, it is an inorganic compound, sometimes referred to as disodium/ metabisulfite used as antioxidant, disinfectant and preservative agent)

We bought one liter pack of Tropicana Coco Quench from Robinson's supermarket last weekend. Well it tasted same as the real coconut water although it is sweeter.

If you want all natural, more nutritious, with coconut meat and less expensive you would go for the buko vendors. The problem most of the time is their availability since just in the morning alone, buko vendors have sold out everything. The downside here is the consistency of the flavor and the juice can last to only about two days in the ref based from my experience.

The packed Tropicana Coco quench can offer an alternative to the unavailability of the buko. Likewise, it is also a good and healthier alternative to sports drinks. It will last a little longer but you would wonder what effects would be of the preservative used. Oh well, we eat a lot of things these days with preservatives.

Now looking at a more holistic view, it will be good for the economy for the country including our coconut farmers. Should Pepsi launch this product internationally, this would be mean increased earnings for the country and the farmers. In fact, based on Wikipedia Philippines tops the world in coconut production in 2010.

There was already an earlier coconut juice product on the grocery store shelf, the Lipa Fresh Buko, which we once in a while buy. I believe it is all natural with tidbits of coconut meat. The taste is not consistent with every bottle you drink. The shelf life is about 1 week and one and a few times, I ended up with expired ones.