May The Best Brand Win!

Zico founder Mark Rampolla recently bought back his coconut water company after a sale that decimated the brand. Now he’s rebuilding it with a new team, but facing fierce competition from an old rival.

- By Graham Winfrey

One monday last october, in his home overlooking the Pacific Ocean south of Los Angeles, Mark Rampolla’s phone rang repeatedly and emails flooded his inbox. Word had leaked over the weekend that Coca-Cola was discontinuing Zico, the coconut water brand Rampolla had sold to the beverage giant in 2013. Old friends and former colleagues wanted to know how he was taking the news.

The father of two daughters, Rampolla had often joked that Zico was his son. So he felt a twinge of sadness about the brand’s foundering under Coke’s leadership. But that emotion quickly changed to excitement and hope. The 51-year-old entrepreneur reached out to Coke’s mergers and acquisitions group right away, initiating what would become weeks of secret negotiations to reacquire Zico. On New Year’s Eve, Rampolla’s phone rang once again. That night, he celebrated not just the arrival of 2021 but also another chance to compete in the coconut water business.

Rampolla now serves as chairman of the board of the newly renamed Zico Rising, representing PowerPlant Ventures, which he co-founded in 2015, and which led the acquisition from Coke. Focused on sustainability and plant-based food and beverage products, PowerPlant has invested in billion-dollar companies including Beyond Meat and Thrive Market. In addition, former Naked Juice president Thomas Hicks has signed on as CEO of Zico Rising. He’s a good fit for the job, having served as SVP of sales and operations at both Coca-Cola and Monster Energy; Hicks steered Monster’s non-energy drinks into Coke’s portfolio.