Lawrenceville, NJ-based iTi Tropicals (iTi) reported results from a recent market data survey, revealing coconut water products with added sweeteners represent about 75 percent of the coconut water market.

Consumers may not realize there are essentially two categories of coconut water products: those with no added sugars and those with added sugars, reported iTi, adding it is challenging for consumers to identify all products with added sugars because testing by a reputable laboratory revealed that some of the sweetened coconut water products, which represent about 15 percent of the market, fail to declare added sugars.

As one of the world’s leading suppliers of bulk coconut water, iTi reported becoming suspicious of the labeling of many of the coconut water beverages sold in the United States.

“Indeed, iTi’s concerns have been reinforced by a statement made by an executive from Vita Coco who acknowledged in a recent interview the widespread problem of added sugars used in coconut water,” stated the company.

iTi is concerned that the continued sale of coconut waters with undeclared added sugars and other ingredients threatens to jeopardize consumer confidence in the category.  By releasing the summary of the results of these analyses, iTi hopes that retailers and brand-holders will strive to ensure the ingredients added to coconut water are properly labeled, according to the company.

For more information, visit www.ititropicals.com.