As the world’s 9th-largest exporter of coconuts, it’s no surprise that they’re available pretty much everywhere in Thailand. But recently I’ve noticed something interesting – it seems that the resourceful Thai coconut industry has melded the humble drupe (I looked it up, it’s a drupe, not a nut) with some pretty crazy technology to produce some very weird and unique consumption possibilities.
We often think that a coconut is a challenge to get into, but it turns out that’s not something we have to worry about anymore. We’ve conquered the coconut once and for all. The long nightmare is over. The first time I realized this was a few weeks back when I posted a picture of a coconut with a pull-tab. You think I’m joking? Check this out, non-believer:
So now that a coconut is as easy to get into as a can of Pepsi, I thought we’d reached peak coconut drinking ease. But I was wrong. I was browsing in Villa market the other night and noticed this on the shelf:
The label says “Thai aromatic young coconut out of the shell.” Surely that can’t mean that it’s just the white meat lining of the coconut with the water inside?! Turns out, that’s exactly what it was:
It looked like a snowball and felt like a wet rubber ball. They managed to de-shell a coconut without even breaking the inner seal! How is that even possible? Thankfully, it came with a handy straw.
It literally could not be easier to drink the juice. It was really good. Once I finished that, I opened it up.
There’s something very primal about cutting something open and having the life-giving juice leak out. Brought me right back to Mr. Nicolson’s high school science class. Learning how to dissect a pig fetus is a skill that I can finally, finally use!
Once I ate the meat – which was nice, if a bit tough – the only evidence that I ate a coconut was the straw I used to pierce it. And the plastic wrapper. And the huge machine somewhere that’s responsible for this technological marvel. And the monkey that probably picked the coconut. But still…it was pretty neat to see. I wonder what they’ll come up with next?
By the way, I mentioned above that Thailand is the world’s 9th largest coconut exporter, with 1,010,000 tons. This compares to 18,000,000 tons for 1st place Indonesia. I really wonder what kind of crazy coconut tech they have?
You’ve done it again – something interesting I’ve never contemplated before.
Thanks for keeping these good blogs coming Greg.
Thanks Scott. I never thought coconuts would still be able to surprise me after all these years. 😀
Woah that is amazing. I used to work with a product sourcing company and one of the client once wanted to order a single coconut cutter…I guess it wasn’t the same tech that is able to cut out the flesh without even breaking the seal. I bet they would love to get their hands on that!
Great posts Greg.
Thanks Shayan. I really wonder what that machine looks like? Wait, I found a peeling machine video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugjB2rXlcDQ
So bad they’re wrapping these with so much plastic! A minimum of 2 layers seems unavoidable in this country! Totally wastes the product imo: you find these plastic wraps everywhere in the sea, on the beaches and other less touristy areas.
No one clears the mess afterwards, sea animals suffocate with plastic wraps stuck in their gills and stomachs.
Really poor score for such a big producer, and such a big touristic destination.
I want my sustainable, natural, 100% recyclable regular coconut *drupe* back!
Tanks TreeLove, I agree. The biggest culprit is convenience stores who give you so much plastic. I blogged about it earlier here. I wish they’d start charging, even 1 baht for a plastic bag, it would make such a big difference. They started charging 5 cents for plastic bags in Canada years ago. Everyone was pissed at first, but now everyone uses cloth. And I saw this article the other day that said plastic bag use in Scotland is down 80% since they started charging. Time to suck it up, Thailand, and take some responsibility.