Coconut oil prices have soared nearly 20 percent in a month, largely because of the growing popularity of specialty products such as coconut water and is shaking up supply chains from farms to store shelves, according to The Wall Street Journal.
In supermarkets, coconuts are being sold with pull tabs to be drunk like beer. Coconut sugar is being touted as healthier for diabetics. And U.S. actress Gwyneth Paltrow is among celebrity coconut fans, once revealing she swishes around virgin coconut oil for oral health and whitening her teeth.
Such trendy products come from young green coconuts, fresh coconut and the trees’ flowers. That leaves less dried coconut—copra—to be made into the conventional oil that is used in everything from dish detergent to medicine.
The result has been a jump in prices since February, to an average in March of $1,448 a metric ton, according to World Bank data released late Wednesday. That is more than 50 percent higher than the average price in 2013.
The trend toward specialty products is being felt throughout the coconut industry, suggesting that prices for conventional oil aren’t likely to drop significantly in the near future, analysts say.
To read more, click here.
