Building a Business: How Michael Kirban took on Coca Cola and built a behemoth
By 2009, The Coca-Cola Company struck a deal with Zico, a coconut water brand that was launched around the same time as The Vita Coco Company, co-founded by Michael Kirban. This was a potential threat to the triumphant trajectory of Vita Coco which controlled almost 50% of the U.S. coconut water market. However, Kirban was determined not to give up.
When Michael Kirban heard of Coca-Cola’s move, he initially thought, “Holy s—, we’re dead.” He even recalls being in shock, at one point, he began to think about the fate of his team. However, he then soon picked himself up and rallied his team around the goal that might have seemed far-fetched; navigating the business away from Coca-Cola’s giant shadow.
The company was beautifully challenged and forced to think on its feet and come up with a plan for growth, distribution, and expanding its consumer base. The company maintained its focus and commitment to its goal while building the business and growing the coconut water category.
Spontaneously, the company was able to raise the funds it needed when Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, came up with the idea to collaborate with them. This partnership led to several endorsements which significantly increased the company’s popularity. Even though things seemed bleak, Kirban was able to link up with North America’s third-largest beverage group, known now as Keurig Dr Pepper, within a year of Zico’s deal with Coca-Cola, and this move significantly aided the business.
Kirban accredits his success to a lot of luck and timing but also alludes to the fact that you have to create your own opportunities and capitalize on them. He also accentuates the importance of looking for inflection points every six months to ensure that the business is staying focused on achieving their long-term goals.
Kirban emphasizes that, looking back, he wouldn’t change a thing, considering that his lack of confidence throughout the entire challenging process led him to have a sense of failure and possibility, which helped him to be as successful as he could have possibly been.
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