Coconuts & Palm Trees: Geography, Markets & Consumption

Even though coconut palm trees require a substantial amount of water and irrigation to grow and bear fruit, they are extremely resilient when it comes to the type of soil in which they can prosper. Likewise, coconut palm trees grow all year long and they have numerous uses in their local communities, such as providing leaves for roofing or biomass as fire fuel. Under normal circumstances, coconut palm trees begin to bear fruit between two and six years after being planted. Similarly, palm trees can bear substantial amounts of fruit for decades before its yield begins to decrease.

Coconuts & Palm Trees: Geography, Markets & Consumption

Throughout the last decade, coconut has become one of the world’s most popular fruits and coconut water, an extremely sought out fruit juice. Originally and predominantly an Asian crop, coconut palm trees today are found throughout the tropics worldwide as they grow in both coastal and desert regions. In some Southeast Asian and Pacific Ocean nations, coconut markets are a key part of the economy, sometimes representing up to 50% of the national exports. For example, in the specific case of the Philippines, the coconut industry employs approximately 20 million people nationwide. However, the recent boom in coconut demand has led to a spike in monoculture within the industry, which is already proving negative to medium and long-term output given that monoculture depletes the soils, threatens biodiversity, and makes farms more vulnerable to disease.

These dynamics highlight the importance of promoting organic and agroforestry practices as well as fair trade within agriculture, particularly in the context of a booming niche product, such as coconuts. Given that green coconuts and its derivate products originate almost exclusively from the “Global South” (i.e. Asia, Africa, and Latin America), it is even more important that consumers be aware of the condition in which these goods are produced in order to prevent exploitive and unsustainable agricultural practices. Furthermore, responsible producers and consumers should seek to optimize the supply chain of products such as coconuts in order to minimize the adverse environmental impact of packaging and transnational transportation.

The increasingly popular beauty and wellness product that is coconut oil is extracted from the coconut flesh or meat after it has been dehydrated and crushed (this is called “copra”). Similarly, coconuts are now being used to produce everyday goods such as sugar, flour, and even vinegar. In the case of the all popular coconut water, this fruit juice is extracted directly from the inside of young, juicy, and not fully mature green coconuts. This is because as the coconut matures its water content reduces substantially, until it dries up completely. Therefore, farmers must figure out when young green coconuts are at their peak in terms of water content in order to process. In terms of nutritional value, coconut water has higher levels of potassium and chloride than regular sport drinks. Meanwhile, coconut water has less than 20 calories per each 100 grams of liquid, compared to upwards of 35 calories per each 100 grams in the case of mainstream fruit juices and soft drinks.

(Read more about Economics and Agricultural Markets in the Netherlands)