Who Makes Costco's Kirkland Signature Coconut Water?

There are dozens of products offered by coconut water brands these days. You can find a couple of highly rated and well-reviewed options at Costco under the Kirkland Signature label. One is shelf-stable, one is chilled, and both are affordable. To help keep Kirkland Signature products cheap, Costco makes arrangements with major brands that can produce the items at a large scale. But that raises the question: Who manufactures Costco's coconut water? Retailers rarely reveal who's behind such private-label products. However, it's possible to come up with plausible theories by comparing the items' ingredient labels, packaging, and taste.

One company that stands out as the possible maker of shelf-stable Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water is Real Coco, a brand from Life Refreshed. Like Costco's private-label version, Real Coco Organic Coconut Water is a product of Vietnam and comes in a white Tetra Pak carton with green and black accents and green coconut graphics. Both are sold in 1-liter cartons. Real Coco is also available in a 12-ounce box, compared with Kirkland's 11.1-ounce size. Each option is organic, but the nutrition differs slightly per 8-ounce serving.

As for the chilled Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water, its clear bottle showcases its natural pink color, making packaging a less obvious match. However, Harmless Harvest's offerings seem the most comparable. Similar to Kirkland's, Harmless Harvest is a product of Thailand and has white packaging. While the nutritional information differs significantly, Costco's version seemed like a dupe based on taste, according to one TikTok user.

If the shelf-stable Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water is a staple on your Costco trips, you may have noticed it's not the same product it was in the early 2020s. That previous iteration closely resembled the popular name-brand, Vita Coco in terms of size and its blue Tetra Pak carton. Both brands also listed identical ingredients and nearly identical nutritional profiles. It's unclear why Costco's Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water changed, but based on its 4.6-star rating from over 700 ratings, customers largely appear satisfied with the switch. 

Whether or not the former Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water was previously Vita Coco in disguise, multiple reviews on Costcto's website have compared the name-brand to Kirkland Signature's current version. Some noted the price — $24.99 for nine 1-liter cartons, and $14.99 for 12 11.1-ounce cartons — along with the low sugar content, organic label, and taste. Some reviewers said it is better than Vita Coco. However, not everyone agreed, and one person remarked that the Kirkland product "doesn't taste as sweet and fresh as VitaCoco water." Several reviewers also said they prefer the taste of the chilled Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water over the shelf-stable version.

If you don't have a Costco membership and are looking for organic coconut water with similar value to the two Kirkland Signature varieties, most nationwide grocery stores offer shelf-stable, private-label organic coconut water at a cheaper price than name-brand options. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market 365 brand, however, carry what appear to be dupes of Harmless Harvest, similar to the chilled Kirkland Signature Organic Coconut Water.