Narrator: This factory in Sri Lanka produces more
than 30,000 metric tons of coconut a year.
But almost none of it stays in the country.
It's exported to Europe, the US, and Canada.
The demand for coconut products has exploded
in recent decades,
with companies touting it as a superfood.
US consumption of coconut oil
has spiked nearly 30% since 2018.
This company, Navik Mills,
didn't even exist until five years ago.
Today, it's one of the largest coconut processors
in the country,
making about $40 million a year
selling coconut oil, cream, water, and milk.
But feeding the globe's coconut obsession can be dangerous.
Farmers like Shehan Madushanka
climb 80-foot trees
with their bare hands and feet
to harvest the fruit one by one.
Narrator: In the factory,
workers brave spinning saws
to shell thousands of coconuts a day,
all because of the West's insatiable thirst
for natural coconut products.
But are their health benefits overhyped?
Maya: I don't think a superfood tag
should be attached to any food,
because I think what it does is create consumer confusion.
Narrator: We head to Sri Lanka to see how far producers
are going to satisfy the globe's coconut craving.
Coconuts have been a staple food
in Sri Lanka for millennia.
Today, it's one of the biggest producers
in the world,
growing roughly 2.5 million metric tons a year.
But farmers face challenges to keep up with this pace.
For one, trees take a while to grow,
sometimes more than six years,
before they produce any coconuts.
They can live up to a century,
growing fruit every month and a half
during their lifetime.
To make sure they're constantly harvesting ripe fruit,
farmers manage massive forests in rotation.
Harvesting a new area every day means farmers
can also inspect the palms for any pest infestation.
Whiteflies and Asian rhinoceros beetles
are coconut palms' biggest enemies.
Narrator: These giant beetles burrow
into the core and eat the nutrients.
If a tree is too far gone,
farmers have to burn
and remove it to prevent the beetles from spreading.
Narrator: Farmers carry their picking tools
as they head out to harvest.
Narrator: That stick is one way to reach the coconuts
without putting anyone at risk.
But often, the only way to get the fruit is to climb.
Shehan started scaling palms four years ago.
Narrator: With only his hands and feet,
he shimmies up the tree.
It takes him only two to three minutes to reach the top.
Now, he's 80 feet up with no rope to protect him.
Narrator: Shehan says he's never fallen,
but a fall from this height could be deadly.
Narrator: He knows which coconuts are ready
when he hears water sloshing around inside.
He'll repeat this daunting climb on dozens of trees today.
One tree yields up to 80 coconuts a year.
Farmers gather them up for sorting and drying.
Narrator: The drier the coconut,
the easier it is to peel off the inedible outer husk.
Narrator: Farmers earn under $5 a day,
which is less than the average salary in the country.
To bridge the gap,
Navik Mills told us it covers the school fees
for the farmers' children.
They load the coconuts on trucks bound
for Navik Mills' factory just up the road.
This is the second sorting stage.
Imports for coconut oil have surged across the West.
So to keep pace, the company introduced these saws.
They doubled the speed
at which they could remove the fibrous coconut shells.
Narrator: But workers have to be careful.
Flying pieces of coconut shells
have nicked workers' eyes before.
Narrator: In the main room,
workers still peel the coconuts by hand.
Narrator: But peeling knives are no less dangerous.
Narrator: Ashoka Kumari peels about 2,500 coconuts
in a shift.
Narrator: Making less than one cent a coconut,
Ashoka usually walks away
with just under $10 a day.
Just like farmers, it's less than an average salary in Sri Lanka.
A team of inspectors comes through to check the quality.
Narrator: If they see any impurities,
they'll pull those bad coconuts out.
Narrator: Meanwhile, another peeler
slices open the fruit
and dumps out the water.
From this point on,
machines will do the bulk of the work.
Because of their high fat content,
peeled coconuts spoil fast.
So the company has to process them quickly.
Narrator: The company produces
over a dozen coconut products,
from ice cream and water
to desiccated coconut and curry-infused milks.
But oil and regular coconut milk
are the company's bestsellers.
These machines press virgin coconut oil
out of chunks
and pump it into glass bottles.
This line is making milk.
Machines grate the meat
into small flakes,
extract the milk,
and dispense it into cans.
At this point,
workers hop back
into the process to inspect the sealed cans
and move the racks into sterilizing machines.
In Sri Lanka, coconut palms
are known as the tree of life.
They can feed a family
of five for a century,
and they're so important,
it's illegal to cut one down before it matures.
Coconuts make up roughly 15% of the calories
Sri Lankans consume
and earn the country
over $800 million every year.
The story of coconuts
in Sri Lanka goes back thousands of years.
It's said they originate from the Western Pacific
but floated to the Pacific islands
in India on ocean currents.
People here long cherished coconuts
because one fruit packs so much power.
It has water, fiber to make rope,
calorie-rich meat,
oil, and a hard shell ideal for crafts.
It also had religious importance
and was presented as an offering to Hindu gods.
In the 16th century,
merchants brought coconuts to the global stage.
Spanish and Portuguese explorers
coined the term coconut
from there slanged word for head,
because of the fruit's resemblance to a face.
They spread the fruit across Africa and South America.
In the early 1900s, bakers in the US and the UK
started using desiccated coconut in their sweets.
In the 2010s, Western countries co-opted coconuts
as the newest superfood.
Health gurus and wellness experts
are looking beyond traditional American foods
for things that are nutrient-dense.
Narrator: Companies and wellness influencers claimed
the fruit could improve bone health
and blood sugar,
promote weight loss,
and help slow Alzheimer's,
thanks to its antioxidants.
Yeah, folks are so into it
because there's some big health claim attached to it.
Narrator: And manufacturers were quick to capitalize.
Soon, coconut products weighed down shelves
in health-food stores across the US and Europe.
Its water replaced Gatorade as a post-workout drink,
and its pulp was turned into healthy ice cream.
And coconut oil became a popular swap
for other cooking oils
because it has no cholesterol.
But nutritionists say the promises the coconut
craze was built upon aren't so straightforward.
So now, all of a sudden, it means
that coconut oil has some magical power.
Therefore, we must all use it,
when that's not actually the case,
because we don't have the research.
It's interesting when you look at food databases,
it's usually foods that everybody's familiar with.
Foods that are outside of the quote-unquote
"dominant norm" are often not as well researched.
Narrator: Coconut water does have lots of electrolytes
and can be a natural replacement for sports drinks.
It makes sense.
All of the places that coconuts grow
are tropical climates.
It's hot.
People sweat a lot,
so it's naturally, you know,
hydrating for those folks.
Narrator: But when it's overprocessed
or packed full of sugar,
that benefit goes away.
And coconut oil is also really fatty.
87% saturated fat to be exact,
much higher than butter,
and it has more calories, too.
In 2017, the American Heart Association
issued an advisory on saturated fats
warning coconut oil could increase bad cholesterol
and cause cardiovascular events.
Yeah, if you're eating large amounts of coconut oil
out of the blue,
your body will let you know that
it may or may not like it.
Narrator: But Maya said
that doesn't mean coconut oil has to be villainized.
There are some nutrients
in coconuts that are really beneficial.
You're going to get some vitamin C,
some potassium, some fiber.
Narrator: Remember, it has been used
in cuisines around the world for thousands of years.
It's just a matter of how you eat it.
What I would rather is that people
are varying their oils,
and if the cooking application warrants coconut oil,
that they use it.
I think it's completely fine to eat them.
You know, if it's culturally relevant, go for it.
Even if it's not, and you want to try it, go for it.
What I do say to people is
don't expect a miracle cure from it.
Narrator: But all this health confusion
hasn't stopped consumers
from gulping down coconuts,
allowing Sri Lanka to take its business well
beyond its shores.
While the country still eats roughly 75%
of its own coconut production,
big companies like this one have popped
up solely to export the product.
In just five years, Navik Mills has become one
of the biggest coconut processors in Sri Lanka.
Altogether, Navik Mills processes
30,000 metric tons of coconuts.
And 95% of it ends up abroad,
mostly in European and North American countries.
And the company has gone to incredible lengths to keep
up with surging demand.
It had to plant 20,000 more trees
and hire dozens of new workers.
Narrator: But coconut farmers aren't the only superfood
producers feeling this squeeze.
Foods that originate outside of the US,
there was a massive peak in interest
in the last 10 to 15 years.
There was a time when that was not a thing.
Narrator: In the Brazilian Amazon,
farmers risk their lives
to scale thin trees for açaí.
The berries have been a staple food here for centuries.
But in the last decade,
they've gained global fame,
praised for their antioxidants
and blended into a valuable frozen pulp.
While an açaí smoothie bowl can go for $15 in New York City,
Brazilian farmers make as little
as 20 cents a pound for the raw berries.
In Peru, producers of quinoa
have nearly tripled production to keep
up with demand from consumers
in the US and Europe.
Soon, French and British farmers started growing
quinoa themselves
to grab a share of the profit.
They flooded the market with too much supply
and sent Peruvian prices plunging in 2015.
In Mexico, avocado farmers
have formed vigilante groups to fight
off cartels gunning for their valuable crops.
Avocado prices jumped 129%
in a decade when it became a favorite for millennials.
I'm always wary of the next miracle food.
Narrator: Because just like coconut,
nutritionists are split
on if these superfoods are actually as powerful
as the marketing suggests.
Maya: There is a particular way that we talk
about wellness in the US,
and it's really
from this Anglo-American, Anglo-European perspective.
And we don't know how to quantify
or categorize things that fit outside
of dominant wellness culture.
Narrator: What's left out is the historical
and cultural context of superfoods
and the acknowledgement
of the people left to bear the brunt
of our health-food obsessions.