Don’t blame the west for wanting to eat coconuts blame the companies for not protecting their workers and researching technology to make harvesting safer/more efficient as well as not automating the processing

Here in the Philippines. No part of our coconut tree is wasted. Aside from the primary uses as kitchen ingredients. (Coconut oil, coconut cream/milk, dessicated coconut for baked goods. There are other uses of it's tree parts. 1. The leaves, can be a used for ornamental decorations, bags, baskets and others. 2. The hard stem can be dried and use as fuel/firewood for cooking outdoors. 3. The old coconut trees that can no longer bear good quality fruits are cut down and processed for lumber and is a good substitute for building simple homes. 4. The husk can be used for mulching for plants as it makes the soil moist for better mineral absorption. 5. The outer skin of the husk together with the hard shell is use to make coconut charcoal briquettes used for grilling. 6. Unused coconut water will not easily go to waste as our farmers use this excess to be fermented to produce a by-product of coconut wine called (túba/lambanog). 7. Aside from making wine as a by-product of fermentation it can also produce good quality coconut vinegar. And, with the help of our scientist and researchers our country is now growing dwarf coconut trees that is very much shorter than the regular tree, it also has the same yield of fruits and even more. Plus, our farmers can now easily maintained and lessen or minimized the pest and insects that is destroying our Tree of Life!

I used to climb coconut trees as early as when I was 7 years old. I think it's a way of life and part of your childhood in tropical countries like the Philippines. I still climb a coconut tree when I go home to the province. Weirdly enough, our bodies know how to maneuver themselves when we do these things, like some sort of muscle memory. Yes, there are people who fell and were put in danger, but the number was very low. I didn't even know anyone in our town who fell from climbing coconut trees or other fruit trees. I think danger is everywhere, even in Western countries. Workers can also be placed in danger when working in factories.

yea im a sri lankan and im soooooo happy this channel has cover a big part of our country's livelihood and they dont call us the "pearl of the indian ocean" for nothing!

People think 10 dollars is bad but from a Sri Lankan standpoint it's not too bad at all. It's about 300 dollars per month or 90,000 Sri Lankan rupees which is about the salary of a school teacher. It's definitely enough to get by in Sri Lanka especially since the cost of living is far lower than most countries.

I dislike that Insider business always tries to frame these things as "dangerous" or "problematic". Some industries they have reported on were dangerous for the people who produce the products. But I feel like the company was slandered a bit here. They had PPE. They had their long sticks. The people working here didn't seem to dislike their job. The workers should be paid more and people shouldn't consider coconuts as a miracle food... but its 2023. I'm surprised if anyone still thinks that.

Don’t blame the WEST, they can enjoy coconut products, blame the factory owners for not paying the workers well. PS - I’m from Karnataka, india. My dad and grandad plucked coconuts like this on their farm, not on a large scale, just from 2 trees enough for the family, i grate and peel coconuts at home regularly when I cook at home 😊 In our cuisine coconut is very very important, the milk, the tender coconut water, the flesh, dried coconut. The oil is used for hair, and we instead use groundnut oil to cook food.

I'm a rugged, barefoot, homecooked farmboy, and not quick to believe in the media touting some new thing as the new superfood. But I'm a runner too, and pretty in tune with my body. I've cut open a fresh coconut after runs before, and I gotta say it's a better post-cardio than gatorade. Some coconut milk is my favorite treatment for acid reflux too. I wish while coconuts were cheaper here, cause I kinda enjoy splitting one with a machete, sometimes adding a shot of rum lol

I am from 'Kerala' which literally means - land of coconut. I am amazed seeing the tree climbing method used by these people... please ask them to send them to Kerala or Tamilnadu which is quite near by. We can train them on how to use tools for climbing and cutting down the coconuts.

wow, didn't realize how dangerous the harvesting is! makes sense why dwarf trees are increasing in popularity

the flowers can be made in to a sugary sweet syrup the trunk is used to make furniture and logs for building and burning the fruit is for well, eating(pretty sure its a seed according to my mother, i am Sri Lankan btw) and the leaves are for decor , thatched roofing , hug mats, hand bags etc...

The video presents this as if it a massive burden for Sri Lanka and its people. Rather it provides employment and much needed foreign exchange for the country. If at al we could improve workers safety a little bit.

Here in Indonesia villagers use well trained monkeys to harvest huge old coconut trees. But in industrial coconut plantation the company select to plant the dwarf coconut trees to make it easier to harvest by employees.

This is something we should look out for. An advocacy for food sustainability.- Philippines

Coconut coir is extremely useful to gardeners. Its not just the meat for food. The husks help me grow my own food. If i ever manage to afford going down to my parents' place in florida i'm REALLY gonna want some dropped fronds and fresh coconuts to experiment with for crafting! Coconut milk also helps with my B12 deficiency. One thing I suggest if you're into grilling, put a coconut shell meat side up on top of the coals. The coconut oils and flavor will perfume the area, producing clear, fragrant smoke and giving white meat a fantastic flavor.

Coconut charcoal (carbon) derived from the shell waste is widely used in water filters.

In Kerala, coconut climbing machines are being used. These are not sophisticated machines, but very helpful and cheap, which can prevent accidents, which are almost always fatal. These companies may use machines to improve productivity and safety.

I'm a proud Sri Lankan and I hate the whole slavery angle here. While I'm thankful to Business Insider for making this video, it would have been far better if you treated it like your Cinnamon and Cashew videos under Claudia, where there importance to the economy, culture and way of life was highlighted. This one-company-focused, narrow minded angle paints such a slotted picture to the world. Whoever thought of doing this in the super food angle totally missed the point. It's great that export market for coconuts have grown, and maybe some companies are cashing in on it, but the majority of coconut industry in Sri Lanka has nothing to do with what's depicted here. Coconut has so many uses, just do a simple search and see how many industries are going on from this one tree. Coconuts are a driving force for Sri Lanka, and you focusing on only the fruit and oil is frankly just xenophobic (in the sense you just subsume the whole thing to your western point of view). I'm sure if Claudia was behind this, she would have done a much better job, highlighting the coconut based cuisine, the coconut based spirit called Arrack that's the defining alcohol here, the numerous industries based on coconut tree's various bits from charcoal to fiber to hard wood and religious decorations(and it literally means the entirety of the tree, I'm not kidding, absolutely no part goes to waste! Talk about Environmental sustainability, Westerners can really learn a thing or two), and generally make a more wholesome video about what coconuts actually mean to us. If you really want to keep this video in a positive manner, I suggest you change the title to something like "How one company in Sri Lanka is fulfilling the Western coconut oil craze" or something like your other videos. This has almost nothing to do with what usual coconut industries are in the country of Sri Lanka. Your title certainly conflates this one company to the whole country, making them seem like all are underpaid slaves providing for a Western craze. The reality is that what's depicted here is just such a narrow minded version of the whole thing. People use like 80% of the coconuts as food alone, and like 90% or more of other related industries. I seriously suggest you allow Claudia to do this sort of videos, or at least consult or get an idea from how she does things. Good luck. 👍

Here in the PH After a hard night of drinking, coconut water is a great hangover cure. I drink one or 2 glasses of it and after an hour, my hangover is cured.

in srilanka we call coconut tree "kap ruka" ,a mythycal tree that provide anything you wish for,technically it gives everything man needs ,litterelly everything ,what a wonderful creation, my family alone consume around 400 coconut per year

Is it just me or business insider seems to have an intrinsic agenda to express whilst explaining the manufacturing process.

Just want to say, I love these Business Insider videos. I've learned so much about entire supply chains that help to demystify the marketing smokescreens

In India Coconut tree is called "Kalpavriksha", as every part of it is useful in one way or the other. The coconut water inside the nut is a delicious drink. In dried form it is called copra and is used to manufacture oil.etc

Bless them and every other country working hard to produce coconut based products ..I love coconut so much ,I appreciate it from a very young age ,I tried all kinds of products coconuts are awesome .

I'm from srilanka I have 43 acers coconut farm we pay pretty good for the workers most of the workers getting government school teachers salary 😅

In the Philippines they use traditional (sundang in Samar) to cut a stairs like on the coconut tree so that they can use it for climbing...

In Malaysia, we called coconut as "the plant for thousand uses". It milks were used to make our National Dish the Nasi Lemak 😋

That nutritionist is the first nutritionist with common sense that I've ever heard. Instead of super foods we should focus on removing toxic foods, while focusing on local fresh produce. But yes, coconut oil is preferred than than vegetable oils from seeds.

Being a cardiologist in India i have spent the last 10 yrs of my life researching why cultures living on coconuts have such low heart attacks.. What we found is that it increases good cholesterol more than bad cholesterol.... If there ever was a super food its coconut

0:02: 🥥 The demand for coconut products has surged in recent years, but the health benefits may be overhyped. 3:10: 🌴 A coconut farmer in Sri Lanka risks his life to climb trees and harvest coconuts, earning less than $5 a day. 7:46: 🥥 Coconuts in Sri Lanka: a source of food, income, and cultural significance. 10:18: 🥥 Coconut oil and coconut water have different effects on the body, with coconut oil being high in saturated fat and potentially harmful to cardiovascular health. 12:14: 🌴 Coconut and açaí farmers are struggling to keep up with global demand, while earning very little for their produce. Recap by Tammy AI

I always wanted to have a farm and produce food as a profession.

To us Pacific Islanders, Coconut is life, Tree of Life!

Coconuts remain the magic ingredient in Sri Lankan cuisine, its what makes traditional SL food taste divine. Like who can beat the taste of Coconut sambol made with freshly grated coconut ? 😍

Here in our country we do cut and curved something on the coconut tree so we can easily climb up. I'm amazed how these guys climbing without even those cuts.

Coconut does...i was taking one table spoon everyday for extreme unknown backpain and it took the pain away right away AND improved my eye vision. My eyes have remained the same vision for 3 years using coconut oil and taking it

In Sir Lanka, we have consumed Coconuts for centuries. So even without research, we know it works!!! Glad the world is recognizing this now. Other superfoods to be discovered would be Millets, Sweet Potatoes, and Cassava.

Super interesting how coconuts spread around the tropics all over the world the past thousands of years, but i gues their form - hardness and such fit well for that. Pretty cool how that company produces all sorts of coconut related items 🥥🥥

Whenever a non-western country develop an industry, western journalists always go, "Whoa, pump the brakes. What about the environment? What about safety?"

I'm from the US but my parents are from central american countries. They harvested and enjoyed coconuts in their own culture's foods. I grew up loving coconut water. To this day I still drink a lot of coconut water, I just don't live in a place where I can harvest the coconuts myself. These workers deserve A LOT of compensation.

I am a Sri Lankan. Proud to be a Sri Lankan.

I'm an economist here to tell you that there's no such thing as "keeping up with demand". Higher demand means higher prices and more potential profits, which is a good thing.

8:20 the coco lumber can also be used to build a nipa hut, its leaves is used as roofing, the leaves sticks are using for broom to clean the trash and fallen leaves in the backyard, the coco coir as soil medium and the coconut shell are excellent for charcoal

People in the PH don’t use anything to climb coconut trees as well but they have steps to make sure they get a good grip of the tree and can rest if they want. I’m shocked they don’t have that in Sri Lanka.

Great! This provides jobs for the workers in the country. Hopefully these workers are well treated and well paid.

"On the other end of everything we put into our mouth is someone who's worked tirelessly to get it there" Truer words have not been said 😉

They must eat what grows in their region. That's best for them. Pistachios, pine & macademia nuts are becoming a hype in India but wise ones are eating what the land throws out effortlessly. Infact I usually avoid almonds that are grown in North India because in my area(central India) they aren't grown at all. So we try to stick to organic non gmo groundnuts, coconuts and ofcourse ghee.

Thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the lack of funding. We, in the West, the Civilians, are not responsible for the Workers of Sri Lanka. Thank you.

Im from brasil and i happy to see people from outside brasil enjoying açaí

I love when they guy says, I trust my arms and legs. We, the outsiders, shouldn't be telling people what they can and can't do. If he wants to climb the tree, that's his choice

I just wanted to say that Coconut fruit shells can be made into jewelry cutlery bowl cups instrument charcoal and in decorations. The husk can be used to make coconut fibers that has many uses. Like basket, gardening pots, ropes, and many more. Cocopit are good for gardening. The bark are good for deco. Leaves can be made into broom, and can be weave in a traditional wall of a house. The stem of leaves can be used as a wood to burn in stove. The core in the top of coconut tree is a delicacy if its raw and cook. The stem is good wood for building . The coconut meat is used to make oil, and coconut milk, We also got sap from the coconut that can be made into sugar, wine, and venigar

Tamilnadu (India) is leading in coconut production. Almost, all southern states of India use coconut widely. In every occasion, coconut breaking is one important custom. It's a part of daily life.🌴🌴🌴

This video is a hatchet job on the consumers. There are many things the farmers can do to harvest coconuts safely. They could use a safety belt. Also, cooperatives can be formed to improve price of product.

Here in Southern part of India, we used Coconut oil for cooking for centuries. Those days the people used to be healthy and lived till 100 years old without any health issues. Then the pharma industry got very stronger in India, they promoted the refined oils and discouraged the use of Coconut oil. Result : These days most people get sick after 40s, heart attacks and strokes are common, people life expectency has gone down. To increase the sales, they need to create more sick people. For that they introduced the "Saturated fat lie" on butter and coconut oil, and promoted the "poisoness refined oils" as healthy oils.

I mean, I understand that climbing a coconut tree without harness is dangerous.... but here in Indonesia it is already like a culture. My grandpa used to climb coconut trees behind his house for 50 years or even more, and even he still climbed the coconut trees when he was 80 years of age. We didn't ask for it, he just wanted to do it. The interesting part is, most of the guys there can do it too, its not something special haha

amazing, all the work they do for a couple of cents a day. Keep it up!

This may seem like a silly question but, why don’t they grow the trees in a slant? That way they’re closer to the ground or at least easier to climb

In philippines, some areas use long bamboo sticks to pick coconut fruit, not climbing.. bamboo sticks are adjustable, add some stick, take out stick, depends on height

I am a technical person in coconut industry in Sri lanka, only the host is making into a big deal, most of the factories in sri lanka have good safety standards. That is how you pluck coconut from a tree for centuries and only drunk idiots fell from trees. No body balming the west, this would give much needed uplift for those communities. They all have all ISO standdards to export. Only the upstream of the this process is labour intensive: however, in the downstream all automated machines such as : tetramachines, UHT, Belt press and combi block , even this documentary after the peeling fully automated.

The one thing I've noticed about all the so-called superfoods or oils or fruit of the vine for consumption is where the people who get the most benefit of the produce lives. And i think if you don't think like a marketer or someone selling products and instead think of how the people who seem to get the most benefit actually live. They walk or ride a bike to work. They do a lot of manual labor. They don't have a machine to do everything for them and they don't have the luxury of spending a lot of time in front of a computer or TV for relaxation. They might go out and do something laborious like play a group sport or go to a dance. That's the missing link. It's not the extracts of products that helps. It's the whole food and food closer to the field and the hard work they endure to live where the benefits are found.

Good for Sri Lanka. The pay may not be great for these workers but at least it is better than not having a job. Also, coconuts has been consumed for over thousands of years with people living over 90+ years with no major health issues. As long as you don't eat something in excess, you should be OK.

As a daily coconut oil eater (I cook almost all the time with virgin coconut oil), a big thank you to all the coconut oil farmers and harvesters. Y'all the real MVPs! 🤟

Don’t blame the people eating it, get mad at the employers for not hiring more people , get mad at them for not having SAFETY standards! Don’t you dare blame the consumers!

I really loved the way Business Insider tried to blame the consumer for the poor conditions and pay the workers have to endure. Sure we could talk about the corporations and factory owners.

This video is not up the the usual standard of this channel. Sensationalism

coconut is what makes sri lankan cuisine awesome

In Kerala we are using coconut oil for decades...we can say it's far better than olive oil or other vegetable oils....

Coconut oil and avocado oil are very healthy oils with healthy fats in them. Your brain and other organs require healthy fats and oils in order to function properly. If people weren’t eating coconuts or avocados, you’d have to eat beef tallow, sheep fat, lard, olive oil or butter to maintain a healthy ratio of fats/oils in your brain etc.

this video makes me happy for some reason

Coconut oil is actually really good for frying, because it has such a high smoking point-though avocado oil has the highest smoking point. Coconut (and avocado) is superior to most seed oils for that reason because it doesn't have the issue of smoking and getting free radicals in your food. Coconuts are not a miracle food, but they do have some health benefits--hell, outside cooking, coconut is really moisturizing and is one of the better natural moisturizers out there (theres a reason its IN a lot of them). And coconut water is a healthier source of electrolytes and sugars than Gatorade, though it does have natural sugar so weight it out. So. Goods and bads. But ya, do your research, don't trust blind faith.

These coconuts sure are plentiful. Sri Lanka has numerous natural resources. Much like any other country in Asia, the more resources, the more bountiful harvests that are being produced.

The workers ARE heros The Company is doing its best to survive keeping workers safe and the Hunger of Demand, and Demand that keeps things foi Going. Letus not demonize but help get things always better

all i know is coconut water brings me back from the bring of death on a daily basis.. i work outside in extreme heat and it is so much better than sports drinks at preventing dehydration and helps me to recover from heat exhaustion faster

What baffles me is the profits made from the sale of these products and the compensation to those who put their lives at risk and work tirelessly to harvest and process these products to meet our ridiculous demand. It is sad and just wrong IMO how little these workers make. Where are all the profits going??? I also wonder how much of this product is wasted after reaching the shelves??

I think a reason why 'super foods' rubs me the wrong way is that in elementary school, I was jeered at for bringing 'strange' foods for lunch. They would make fun of any foods that didn't fit within the American norm, and then turn around and laud them as 'miracle foods' without knowing or caring about the cultural significance.

"No food should be named a superfood". I couldn't agree more the video could just be her saying that and its over.

Im arilankan and i know that one of the biggest burdens on the workers are the children's school expenses. But thats already covered by the company so I would say its a good living and allows them to use the money ,that they otherwise would've used to pay the fees,on something else useful

I am from Sri Lanka, but didn't know about this kind of mass production. and in my place coconuts are expensive 🤔

This what I can tell you as a Caribbean woman who lives in Puerto Rico. 1. No one in the Caribbean cooks with coconut oil. Only for special occasions like making coconut shrimp. 2. Most of us can get or make homemade coconut oil. I use for my hair and skin. Not face because breakout. People also use it as a mouthwash and natural toothpaste. 3 a lot of people in the Caribbean do not drink water. Only coconut water. American store bought coconut water, taste like shit. And nothing like the real thing.

I like the description of how dangerous it is with the guy climbing and he ignores the old guy using a pole

Not sure about the other “superfood” products. However coconut water from the shell, not only does it taste healthy, you can actually feel your skin improving overnight.

I didn't knew that coconut is a superfood. As an Indian coconut is an integral part of our culture. Everyone in India consumes coconut directly or indirectly through chutneys, coconut water, gravys etc

They always blame ”people in the west” i knew that before i even klicked the video… 🤦‍♂️

never knew coconut was considered a superfood lol, i love them though probably one of my favourite fruits

What she just said, " every single bit of food we put in our mouth someone has worked tirelessly to get it there." Should be a saying in every home, on every store wall every where

To the company in this video, please pay your workers a living wage (one that is above the national average). Given the demand of coconuts and the back breaking work your employees go through, there no reason why you cannot!

Looks like a nice clean setup, Shame they’re paid so little.

It sounds like the producers find it horrible that the “west” craves a food and people in Sri Lanka can employ many workers that can then feed their families 🤦‍♂️ We can always discuss if work safety can be improved, which is looks like it can.

why is it the consumers fault for the companies having terrible work safety and greedy ceo's taking little precautions and minimising protection for their workers?

Always remember that so much of what we have is on the backs of people sacrificing their bodies for low wages.

Very interesting. Thanks for the insights

We do this as a kid in the philippines. We had coconut trees in our backyard and would climb up to get some then drink the water after

Clearly, this document has been produced to discourage the US consumers on coconut products, by far those imported from Sri Lanka. The daily wage of a coconut plucker (only employed by urban dwellers to pluck fruits from a couple of trees- never be employed in estates due to inefficiency) are earn more than Rs. 3000-5,000 a day ($10-15) which is well beyond a government school teacher / University lecturer, and more than enough to run a family of 5. They have purposely asked that coconut climber to climb the tree in a very awkward way (monkey style) to make a big seen. But the real tree climbers use a hard loop on their feets to add grip, and climb the tree like embracing it ( just search in KZfaq) Clearly the content of this audio and video, both are hype.

*Personally, I have never seen a tree whose most parts are commercially usable like the coconut tree.*

yea acutaly she might be wrong cuz almost every morning i eat either red rice or rotti with samboll (coconut flakes ,chilli, pepper ,garlic and salt) or even just plain coconut flakes

If Americans and other health-minded societies did not desire the benefits of these overseas foods, seems to me that these thousands of good hard-working people picking and processing the foods would be out of a job, or in a lower paying job. So, yeah, good on us Americans for providing a living by our healthy demands for these foods. The workers seem to be healthy and happy. I'm glad for this industry!

Under paying their staff is ridiculous.

If he does not want to use any climbing aid- not my fault. I had been eating coconuts since I was a year old.

They climb trees and use power tools... Stunning and brave...

That man climbing up to the top of the tree is a HERO. But that is not practical to business wise. He has to choose one by one which one is ready, and twist with one hand. That is for a family only not for a factory .

I could say coconut water is the best drinks than any other drinks.