Tender Coconut around the world: My findings!

This post was long overdue. To share my findings about tender coconut in various countries I visited

Of the 40 countries I have visited so far, about 23 of them had availability of tender coconut for sale. Roughly 50% success rate, you may say. Quick summary in below table, detailed notes after that.

• Cheapest country abroad for tender coconut (in prorated INR terms): Srilanka (INR 25 onwards)
• Most innovative country selling tender coconut and its variants: The Philippines (Flavored, toppings etc- Details in the bottom)
• Country that seem to be exporting coconuts extensively- Thailand (Found them in Macau, Australia, Singapore)
• Countries where Tender coconut is available but very hard to find: Australia
• Countries where finding tender coconut is extremely easy: Thailand, Srilanka

#	Country	Cities	Ease of finding	Cost (Local currency	Cost (INR)	Remarks
1	Australia	Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney	Difficult	6.5 AUD	325	Select super markets only. They won’t cut it open to let us eat the meat inside
2	India	Several	Easy in South, Difficult in North	Rs 5 to 50 depending on size Rs 80/litre in Hyderabad	5 to 50	Available for Rs 5 in Kolkata (very small ones). Good ones cost between INR 30 to 50 in most South Indian cities Available online, powder and tetrapacks
3	Indonesia	Bali	Easy	7000 to 25000 IDR	42 to 150	Expensive near tourist places, cheaper elsewhere. Huge in size, lots of water. Tetrapacks available for 11-15000 IDR
4	Macau	Macau	Difficult	25 to 45 MOP	250 t0 450	Available in supermarkets for about 25 MOP, take away only. Available in some grocery shops for 20-25 MOP, availble in Galaxy Macau for 45 MOP
5	Malaysia	KL, Melaca	Very easy	4 to 6 MYR	70 to 100	Check snowball version here Chilled ones 1 MYR extra
6	Maldives	Male, Gan Island	Easy	8-10 MVR	40-50
7	Philippines	Manila, Cebu, Palawan	Medium	25-30 PHP	50 INR	Easy to find in islands. Coconut milkshake, flavoured variants available
8	Singapore	Singapore	Medium	2.5 SGD to 4 SGD	120-200 INR	Cheapest around Mustafa centre, available mainly in Little India area, hard to find elsewhere
9	Srilanka	Colombo, Male, Kandy	Very easy	50 LKR	25 INR
10	Thailand	Several	Very easy	40 baht onwards	70-80 INR	160 baht in 5 star resort
11	Vietnam	Several	Very easy	10000 VND to 55000 VND	30-90 INR
12	UAE	Dubai	Moderate	5.95 AED	110 INR	20 AED in tourist places
13	Myanmar (Burma)	Yangon	Moderate	850-1000 MMK	45-50 INR
14	China	Beijing, Shanghai	Difficult	15 CNY	150 INR	Imported from Thailand
15	Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	Easy	2 BND	140 INR
16	Nepal	Kathmandu Pokhara	Difficult	100-200 NPR	60-120 INR	Imported from India-mostly WB
17	USA	Miami, Vegas, San Diego	Difficult	2 to 3 USD	150-200 INR	Imported from Thailand/ Vietnam
18	Bahamas	Nassau	Difficult	6 to 7 USD	400-500 INR	Local but targeted at tourists
19	Costa Rica	San Jose	Difficult	350 CRC	45 INR	Local
20	Canada	Vancouver	Difficult	2.99 CAD	160 INR	Imported Thailand/ Vietnam
21	Bangladesh	Dhaka	Easy	60-70 Taka	50-60 INR	Local
22	UK	Bristol	Very Difficult	2.5 GBP	230 INR	Imported Thailand/ Packaged in Spain
23	Oman	Muscat	Moderate	400-550 baisa	80-99 INR	Import from India & Thailand

At following countries I couldn't find tender coconut during my visit
Belgium, Bhutan, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, Colombia, Panama, Ireland

Hong Kong I feel I didn't search enough. It is possible that they have but I couldn't locate the right shop. Other countries- All of them in northern Europe, didn't have any availability of tender coconuts in supermarkets, malls or on the street.

Coconut water in tetra pack/tin can was available in New Zealand and many places- but for the sake of this post, focus is on natural tender coconut, not packaged/processed one.

Colombia grows coconuts, but they don't seem to sell it in its tender state. Only ripe coconuts were being sold on the streets.

Some special mentions
1 The Philippines
Philippines seem to have lots to offer w.r.t to tender coconut. They are known locally as Bukos. Besides selling them by the roadside like in India, I found that they sell it as milkshake and also offer flavored versions and toppings. Price is reasonable, finding one is easier in islands of Palawan, Cebu but difficult in Manila

Below are photos an exclusive coconut shop inside a mall in Cebu, Philippines. Tender coconut is served in several flavors, sizes and with toppings, for reasonable price (35 PHP onwards)



2 India
I don't have to explain much. Tender coconut is available throughout the year in most south Indian cities, price ranges between Rs 30 to 50 in most cases. I have seen roadside vendors selling super small size coconuts for Rs 5 and 7 in Kolkata. Few vendors in Pondy were selling decent size one for Rs 15. Cheaper in Karnataka but expensive in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Past few years have been great for coconut. People are realizing side effects of aerated drinks and slowly moving away from colas.

Now tender coconut is available online as well (Read detailed experience here). Tender coconut is also available in powder form- just add water and consume. Many startups have been focusing on tender coconut door delivery etc. Best wishes to them.

I found coconut in North India too- Jodhpur in particular- but in general very hard to find in most of north India.

3 Indonesia (Bali)
Found one even before I reached my hotel from airport. Stopped on the way at a local and drank a big coconut for 10000 Rupaiah. Next day, near Tanha Lot when I was quoted 15000 to 25000 IDR, I instantly knew they were trying to charge a premium because of tourist location. Managed to find smaller stores away from tourist spots and drink lots of tender coconut at reasonable prices. Taste was not as good as India ones-Few were tasting very bland but that’s the risk one has to take. No sure shot way to predict the taste.

There is a coconut cafe in Ubud. Need to visit next time.

4 Thailand
Thailand has plenty of coconut supply- sold by the roadside like in India. They also export it to several countries around the world, partially chopped and wrapped well in plastic. I found Thai tender coconuts for sale in Macau, Australia and Singapore, price increased by 2-3 times. Thai vendors use spoon in most cases- I showed few vendors that they can chop a side of the coconut and use it as spoon. Taste is usually good. My 2012 post has more details on Thai tender coconuts.

Also spotted coconut ice cream in Phi Phi island.

5 Srilanka
The tiny island nation has great source of coconut trees. Many villagers sell tender coconut at very reasonable price- about 50 LKR in most cases. What I liked about them is that they don’t quote higher price just because you got down from a car. Multiple variants- red, green, brown etc are available, size and taste very similar to India

6 Maldives
Found few shops during my early morning walk. Locally grown, very similar to India

No, that Scoopy is not rented by me.

7. Macau
I wasn't expecting to find coconut in Macau, but I did. A supermarket in Taipa was selling coconuts, but only as a takeaway, for around 22 MOP (INR 200 approx). I didn't have any sickle to cut it open so couldn't buy that. These coconuts were imported from Thailand.

Later found a grocery shop that sold tender coconut-after drinking the water took it to the guy for cutting- he wasn't prepared for that. With my gestures explained him that I really really want him to cut it open- finally he obliged. Few other customers who were waiting at the billing counter were cooperative to my request that took extra time from the staff

Resorts like Galaxy Macau do sell tender coconuts in their restaurants, but for twice the price (42 MOP) and with branding (see photo below)

8. Malaysia

Malaysia like Thailand has good supply of tender coconut. Little difficult to find one in heart of KL city, but available easily near most tourist spots like Batu caves, Melaka etc. I was smitten by this snowball version. Watch video below, details here.

9. Australia- available in some supermarkets/malls, not on streets

10. Singapore- available in little India area, around Mustafa centre. Cheapest around Mustafa centre

11. Vietnam: At a village 200kms from Saigon, found nice tender coconuts for just 10000 VND. In cities, price is about 250000 to 30000 VND. Taste fairly similar to Thailand ones.

12. UAE: Some supermarkets in Dubai were selling fresh tender coconut for AED 5.95. At tourist places the price quoted is as high as 20 AED. Tender coconut water was also available in bottles and tin cans for around 3 AED for 500 ML. So Dubai didn't disappoint me w.r.t tender coconuts.

13. Myanmar- could locate a few shops by the road close to popular tourist attractions in Yangon, at very affordable prices. Very good taste

14. China: Imported from Thailand, possible to find tender coconut in supermarkets, but have to manage on our own to cut it open etc

15. Brunei; Seems locally grown, similar to ones found in Indonesia and Philippines. Retails about 2 BND. Very good.

16. Nepal: Available in select shops- not easy to find- in Kathmandu and Pokhara- one in Pokhara was better quality and cheaper. All are imported from India and sold for 1.5-2x the price.

17. USA- Found tender coconuts in Las Vegas (Indian market on Tropicana Street) for 2.5 USD, in San Diego (Miramar Cash & Carry for 1.99 USD)-both were imports from Thailand. Store staff didn't have any provision to cut and serve them.

18. Bahamas: They do have lots of coconut trees but finding fresh tender coconut for consumption was not easy- Only in downtown Nassau a kiosk was selling tender coconut but at an insane price of 6 to 7 USD. Too high, targeted mainly at cruise ship tourists.

19. Costa Rica: Found a street vendor selling fresh tender coconut about a km away from airport. Even in San Jose, some shops sell tender coconut.

20. Canada: Imported from Vietnam or Thailand, supermarkets like Walmart were selling fresh tender coconuts for about 2.99 CAD.

21. Bangladesh: Found nice ones easily in Dhaka- reasonable price, fresh and tasty. Mostly locally grown

22. UK/ Europe- I have been to 12 countries in Europe so far and haven’t managed to find coconut anywhere except in UK- where I found it with great difficulty in a Waitrose supermarket after weeks of searching- this was a bit ripe coconut, grown in Thailand, packaged in Spain. There are media reports of Indian coconuts getting exported to Europe- may be It was to UK. It is also possible that I didn't search enough in rest of Europe. Most of my trips were short ones over the weekend

Additional notes:
There're lots of things to observe in tender coconut than just drinking it
1 How it is cut open
In Thailand and in some part of Philippines standard practice is to make four incision in square shape to gain entry to the core and drink using a straw.

In India, Srilanka, Malaysia, Maldives standard practice is to chop off the top portion till water is accessible. If the vendor is not careful enough, some water spills out in this process.

However I also saw in Palawan that few vendors quickly drill a hole good enough to insert a straw and serve it. We also have devices that can drill a hole into tender coconut- read my 9 year old post on that- but it usually works on really really tender coconuts and not ripe ones.

2 Eating the inside meat
Only roadside vendors are very comfortable to cut the coconut in half and let you eat the inside meat. Most malls and supermarkets that sell coconut are not equipped to serve you the inside. After paying massive 6.5 AUD (INR 350) in a Melbourne mall, I had to discard the coconut shell without eating the inside contents.

3 Inside volume: 
External size doesn't always hint at volume inside. Tender coconuts in Philippines and Bali are both huge in size and also have lots of water inside. The wall is fairly thin like you see in photo below

In many other parts of the world a large size coconut may have really small shell inside and a smaller looking one may have much more water. Very hard to predict.

4 Parcel:
Indian vendors have good way of attaching two coconuts together. I haven't tried taking coconut as parcel abroad, so not very familiar how clever they are in tying a knot between two coconuts and enabling easy transport.

5 Presentation
Most roadside vendors just dump them on the ground. In Bali, many shops have this customized stands on which they present a few coconuts and maintain rest of the stock inside. In supermarkets usually well dressed versions are maintained (top portion chopped off, wrapped in plastic and some branding)

Many shops in Thailand and Malaysia maintain a few inside refrigerator/cooler.

Worldwide people are realizing health benefits of coconut and it is gaining its due importance. Its advantages are many and undisputed. Do share your thoughts and comments.

Also read- How to drink tender coconut without straw