Why Coconut Farmers Risk Their Lives To Feed The World

0:02Narrator: This factory in Sri Lanka produces more

0:05than 30,000 metric tons of coconut a year.

0:09But almost none of it stays in the country.

0:12It's exported to Europe, the US, and Canada.

0:15The demand for coconut products has exploded

0:18in recent decades,

0:19with companies touting it as a superfood.

0:23US consumption of coconut oil

0:26has spiked nearly 30% since 2018.

0:30This company, Navik Mills,

0:32didn't even exist until five years ago.

0:35Today, it's one of the largest coconut processors

0:38in the country,

0:39making about $40 million a year

0:41selling coconut oil, cream, water, and milk.

0:46But feeding the globe's coconut obsession can be dangerous.

0:50Farmers like Shehan Madushanka

0:53climb 80-foot trees

0:55with their bare hands and feet

0:56to harvest the fruit one by one.

1:03Narrator: In the factory,

1:04workers brave spinning saws

1:07to shell thousands of coconuts a day,

1:10all because of the West's insatiable thirst

1:13for natural coconut products.

1:16But are their health benefits overhyped?

1:20Maya: I don't think a superfood tag

1:21should be attached to any food,

1:23because I think what it does is create consumer confusion.

1:26Narrator: We head to Sri Lanka to see how far producers

1:29are going to satisfy the globe's coconut craving.

1:34Coconuts have been a staple food

1:36in Sri Lanka for millennia.

1:38Today, it's one of the biggest producers

1:40in the world,

1:41growing roughly 2.5 million metric tons a year.

1:45But farmers face challenges to keep up with this pace.

1:49For one, trees take a while to grow,

1:51sometimes more than six years,

1:53before they produce any coconuts.

1:56They can live up to a century,

1:58growing fruit every month and a half

2:00during their lifetime.

2:01To make sure they're constantly harvesting ripe fruit,

2:04farmers manage massive forests in rotation.

2:08Harvesting a new area every day means farmers

2:10can also inspect the palms for any pest infestation.

2:14Whiteflies and Asian rhinoceros beetles

2:17are coconut palms' biggest enemies.

2:25Narrator: These giant beetles burrow

2:26into the core and eat the nutrients.

2:30If a tree is too far gone,

2:32farmers have to burn

2:33and remove it to prevent the beetles from spreading.

2:41Narrator: Farmers carry their picking tools

2:43as they head out to harvest.

2:52Narrator: That stick is one way to reach the coconuts

2:54without putting anyone at risk.

2:57But often, the only way to get the fruit is to climb.

3:01Shehan started scaling palms four years ago.

3:10Narrator: With only his hands and feet,

3:12he shimmies up the tree.

3:15It takes him only two to three minutes to reach the top.

3:19Now, he's 80 feet up with no rope to protect him.

3:29Narrator: Shehan says he's never fallen,

3:31but a fall from this height could be deadly.

3:40Narrator: He knows which coconuts are ready

3:42when he hears water sloshing around inside.

3:46He'll repeat this daunting climb on dozens of trees today.

3:55One tree yields up to 80 coconuts a year.

3:58Farmers gather them up for sorting and drying.

4:07Narrator: The drier the coconut,

4:08the easier it is to peel off the inedible outer husk.

4:16Narrator: Farmers earn under $5 a day,

4:20which is less than the average salary in the country.

4:25To bridge the gap,

4:26Navik Mills told us it covers the school fees

4:29for the farmers' children.

4:34They load the coconuts on trucks bound

4:36for Navik Mills' factory just up the road.

4:42This is the second sorting stage.

4:47Imports for coconut oil have surged across the West.

4:51So to keep pace, the company introduced these saws.

4:56They doubled the speed

4:57at which they could remove the fibrous coconut shells.

5:10Narrator: But workers have to be careful.

5:14Flying pieces of coconut shells

5:16have nicked workers' eyes before.

5:30Narrator: In the main room,

5:30workers still peel the coconuts by hand.

5:40Narrator: But peeling knives are no less dangerous.

5:56Narrator: Ashoka Kumari peels about 2,500 coconuts

6:00in a shift.

6:07Narrator: Making less than one cent a coconut,

6:09Ashoka usually walks away

6:11with just under $10 a day.

6:14Just like farmers, it's less than an average salary in Sri Lanka.

6:20A team of inspectors comes through to check the quality.

6:27Narrator: If they see any impurities,

6:29they'll pull those bad coconuts out.

6:35Narrator: Meanwhile, another peeler

6:36slices open the fruit

6:38and dumps out the water.

6:41From this point on,

6:42machines will do the bulk of the work.

6:44Because of their high fat content,

6:46peeled coconuts spoil fast.

6:48So the company has to process them quickly.

6:57Narrator: The company produces

6:58over a dozen coconut products,

7:00from ice cream and water

7:02to desiccated coconut and curry-infused milks.

7:07But oil and regular coconut milk

7:09are the company's bestsellers.

7:12These machines press virgin coconut oil

7:14out of chunks

7:15and pump it into glass bottles.

7:19This line is making milk.

7:21Machines grate the meat

7:22into small flakes,

7:24extract the milk,

7:26and dispense it into cans.

7:30At this point,

7:30workers hop back

7:31into the process to inspect the sealed cans

7:36and move the racks into sterilizing machines.

7:41In Sri Lanka, coconut palms

7:42are known as the tree of life.

7:45They can feed a family

7:46of five for a century,

7:48and they're so important,

7:49it's illegal to cut one down before it matures.

7:53Coconuts make up roughly 15% of the calories

7:56Sri Lankans consume

7:58and earn the country

7:59over $800 million every year.

8:03The story of coconuts

8:04in Sri Lanka goes back thousands of years.

8:07It's said they originate from the Western Pacific

8:10but floated to the Pacific islands

8:12in India on ocean currents.

8:14People here long cherished coconuts

8:16because one fruit packs so much power.

8:19It has water, fiber to make rope,

8:22calorie-rich meat,

8:23oil, and a hard shell ideal for crafts.

8:28It also had religious importance

8:30and was presented as an offering to Hindu gods.

8:33In the 16th century,

8:34merchants brought coconuts to the global stage.

8:38Spanish and Portuguese explorers

8:39coined the term coconut

8:41from there slanged word for head,

8:43because of the fruit's resemblance to a face.

8:46They spread the fruit across Africa and South America.

8:49In the early 1900s, bakers in the US and the UK

8:52started using desiccated coconut in their sweets.

8:56In the 2010s, Western countries co-opted coconuts

8:59as the newest superfood.

9:01Health gurus and wellness experts

9:04are looking beyond traditional American foods

9:09for things that are nutrient-dense.

9:12Narrator: Companies and wellness influencers claimed

9:15the fruit could improve bone health

9:16and blood sugar,

9:18promote weight loss,

9:19and help slow Alzheimer's,

9:21thanks to its antioxidants.

9:23Yeah, folks are so into it

9:25because there's some big health claim attached to it.

9:29Narrator: And manufacturers were quick to capitalize.

9:32Soon, coconut products weighed down shelves

9:35in health-food stores across the US and Europe.

9:38Its water replaced Gatorade as a post-workout drink,

9:41and its pulp was turned into healthy ice cream.

9:44And coconut oil became a popular swap

9:46for other cooking oils

9:48because it has no cholesterol.

9:50But nutritionists say the promises the coconut

9:52craze was built upon aren't so straightforward.

9:55So now, all of a sudden, it means

9:57that coconut oil has some magical power.

10:00Therefore, we must all use it,

10:02when that's not actually the case,

10:04because we don't have the research.

10:06It's interesting when you look at food databases,

10:08it's usually foods that everybody's familiar with.

10:11Foods that are outside of the quote-unquote

10:13"dominant norm" are often not as well researched.

10:18Narrator: Coconut water does have lots of electrolytes

10:21and can be a natural replacement for sports drinks.

10:24It makes sense.

10:25All of the places that coconuts grow

10:27are tropical climates.

10:28It's hot.

10:29People sweat a lot,

10:30so it's naturally, you know,

10:32hydrating for those folks.

10:34Narrator: But when it's overprocessed

10:36or packed full of sugar,

10:37that benefit goes away.

10:39And coconut oil is also really fatty.

10:4287% saturated fat to be exact,

10:45much higher than butter,

10:46and it has more calories, too.

10:49In 2017, the American Heart Association

10:51issued an advisory on saturated fats

10:54warning coconut oil could increase bad cholesterol

10:57and cause cardiovascular events.

11:01Yeah, if you're eating large amounts of coconut oil

11:05out of the blue,

11:06your body will let you know that

11:08it may or may not like it.

11:10Narrator: But Maya said

11:11that doesn't mean coconut oil has to be villainized.

11:14There are some nutrients

11:15in coconuts that are really beneficial.

11:18You're going to get some vitamin C,

11:20some potassium, some fiber.

11:22Narrator: Remember, it has been used

11:23in cuisines around the world for thousands of years.

11:26It's just a matter of how you eat it.

11:28What I would rather is that people

11:30are varying their oils,

11:31and if the cooking application warrants coconut oil,

11:34that they use it.

11:35I think it's completely fine to eat them.

11:38You know, if it's culturally relevant, go for it.

11:40Even if it's not, and you want to try it, go for it.

11:43What I do say to people is

11:44don't expect a miracle cure from it.

11:47Narrator: But all this health confusion

11:49hasn't stopped consumers

11:50from gulping down coconuts,

11:52allowing Sri Lanka to take its business well

11:55beyond its shores.

11:56While the country still eats roughly 75%

11:59of its own coconut production,

12:01big companies like this one have popped

12:03up solely to export the product.

12:05In just five years, Navik Mills has become one

12:08of the biggest coconut processors in Sri Lanka.

12:12Altogether, Navik Mills processes

12:1430,000 metric tons of coconuts.

12:17And 95% of it ends up abroad,

12:19mostly in European and North American countries.

12:23And the company has gone to incredible lengths to keep

12:26up with surging demand.

12:27It had to plant 20,000 more trees

12:30and hire dozens of new workers.

12:40Narrator: But coconut farmers aren't the only superfood

12:42producers feeling this squeeze.

12:45Foods that originate outside of the US,

12:48there was a massive peak in interest

12:50in the last 10 to 15 years.

12:52There was a time when that was not a thing.

12:54Narrator: In the Brazilian Amazon,

12:56farmers risk their lives

12:57to scale thin trees for açaí.

13:00The berries have been a staple food here for centuries.

13:03But in the last decade,

13:04they've gained global fame,

13:07praised for their antioxidants

13:08and blended into a valuable frozen pulp.

13:11While an açaí smoothie bowl can go for $15 in New York City,

13:15Brazilian farmers make as little

13:17as 20 cents a pound for the raw berries.

13:21In Peru, producers of quinoa

13:23have nearly tripled production to keep

13:25up with demand from consumers

13:27in the US and Europe.

13:29Soon, French and British farmers started growing

13:31quinoa themselves

13:33to grab a share of the profit.

13:35They flooded the market with too much supply

13:38and sent Peruvian prices plunging in 2015.

13:42In Mexico, avocado farmers

13:44have formed vigilante groups to fight

13:46off cartels gunning for their valuable crops.

13:49Avocado prices jumped 129%

13:52in a decade when it became a favorite for millennials.

13:57I'm always wary of the next miracle food.

14:02Narrator: Because just like coconut,

14:03nutritionists are split

14:04on if these superfoods are actually as powerful

14:07as the marketing suggests.

14:10Maya: There is a particular way that we talk

14:12about wellness in the US,

14:14and it's really

14:15from this Anglo-American, Anglo-European perspective.

14:19And we don't know how to quantify

14:22or categorize things that fit outside

14:25of dominant wellness culture.

14:28Narrator: What's left out is the historical

14:30and cultural context of superfoods

14:32and the acknowledgement

14:33of the people left to bear the brunt

14:35of our health-food obsessions.