Los Alamitos, CA (June 2020) – The highly coveted, always anticipated Angelcot® season has begun and quantities are extremely limited for this sought-after summer produce.

Allen Demo, Frieda’s director of sourcing & business development, was in the fields of Byron, CA, all week as the harvest began. “The fruit looks beautiful and it is the sweetest we’ve ever seen,” Demo says. “Brix level has reached 22 this year, which is unusual for an apricot.” Demo cautions, “Don’t even think about eating one of these without a napkin! Better yet, eat it over the sink.” The fruit’s highly juicy profile is a show-stopper this year.

Angelcots® are white-fleshed apricots known for having delicate skin and sweet flesh. They have the juiciness of the ripest nectarine with the delicate texture and aroma of an apricot. Angelcots® have the perfect balance of acid and sugar with a buttery, perfume-like sweetness. The exterior of the fruit is characterized by blushing, which is the telltale sign that you are about to eat an Anglecot instead of a regular old apricot.

The sweeter flavor profile makes these the perfect variety to introduce to younger shoppers that typically do not buy apricots. Promote them for snacking, baking or in salads, like grilled angelcot®, arugula & goat cheese salad. The crop is limited and mostly pre-booked, so call your Frieda’s account manager today to request samples for next year.

About Frieda’s Inc.

Frieda’s Specialty Produce has been inspiring new food experiences for friends, families and food lovers everywhere since 1962. From kiwifruit and dragon fruit to Stokes Purple® sweet potatoes and habanero peppers, Frieda’s has introduced more than 200 unique fruits and vegetables to the U.S. marketplace. Founded by produce industry trailblazer Dr. Frieda Rapoport Caplan, subject of the 2015 documentary “Fear No Fruit,” the family company is owned and operated by Frieda’s daughters, Karen Caplan and Jackie Caplan Wiggins, in Orange County, California. Find Frieda’s on Facebook, @FriedasProduce and Friedas.com. Inspire. Taste. Love.

Ever wonder why some coconuts are white, some are brown, and some don’t look like the tropical coconut emoji at all? Welcome to the ultimate coconut guide. Let us be your tropical tour guide through the wonderful, delicious journey of coconuts.

While the origin of coconuts is debatable, they are thought to have originally come from the beautiful tropical islands along Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. They are one of the most important crops of the tropics. Coconuts have been grown in temperate regions for thousands of years, thriving in sandy soil, and they have recently become quite popular for their flavor, culinary uses and potential health benefits—specifically coconut water. Frieda’s young coconuts are harvested in Thailand, while brown coconuts are harvested in Mexico. The fruit is also grown in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Vietnam and the USA.

Ever think a coconut looks like a little face staring back at you? Well Portuguese explorers thought the same thing! Those three little characteristic eyes looked like a goblin or grinning face, so it is believed that they named it “coco”—the word for goblin. Later the English added the word “nut,” creating the name we know today as coconut.

Interestingly, young coconuts, white coconuts and brown coconuts all come from the same coconut palm, they just differ by stage of maturity! All coconuts contain a husk, which is kind of like the rind of the fruit and under which you can find the delicious meat. The inside features a sweet, drinkable liquid called coconut water (not to be confused with coconut milk). Coconuts are almost the opposite of most table fruits, where the pit is on the inside and the flesh is on the outside. With coconuts, it’s reversed. Now that’s (coco) nuts! Let’s take a closer look to understand what makes them different.

 

Young coconut

Find your paradise with our favorite coconut! These fruits are harvested young and their green outer skin is pared away to reveal a white cylindrical husk with a pointy, pencil-like tip. Inside the white husk is the familiar round coconut with its hard, fibrous shell—or the nut. They might be a tough cookie to crack, but once you do, you’ll experience the sweet and refreshing water inside. At this stage of maturity, the coconut is mostly water. In fact, young coconuts have the largest amount of water compared to white or brown coconuts, containing up to 10 ounces! Not only is the water a great natural substitute for soft drinks, sugary juices, or sports drink, it is also loaded with electrolytes! Even though young coconuts are mostly filled with water, don’t forget about the yummy meat, which is thin, super soft and silky, almost jelly-like. You can scoop it out with a spoon. These coconuts are best for drinking and are a great source of hydration that can also be used in smoothies, slushies and other tropical drinks.

When shopping for young coconuts, choose heavy coconuts with no cracks, mold or soft wet spots. If you give the young coconut a shake, it shouldn’t slosh much—if any—because you want it to be full of liquid with no air inside.

Not quite sure how to open a coconut? Check out how to open a Frieda’s young coconut here.

 

White coconut

 

The white coconut is a pale cream color with hairy white fibers. As the coconut matures, the meat becomes firmer and the amount of water decreases. But that is not to say that this meat isn’t as delicious as that of a young coconut, and it’s considerably moister and fresher than the meat of the more mature brown coconut. White coconuts often have a floral fragrance. These coconuts are best for cooking, grating the meat into salads or baked goods, or using in curries. Yum!

 

Brown coconut

 

This is the type of fruit most people think of when they think of coconuts. Just check out the coconut emoji on your phone! As the most mature coconut, these are typically 10-12 months old. The outer shell has a coarse brown hair-like texture and the meat here is so hard you need a sharp knife to chop it. It also has the smallest amount of water because, as the coconut ages, the water is absorbed as the meat thickens. These coconuts are great for making your own coconut milk or as a substitute for packaged shredded coconut when grated.

 

Benefits and Uses of Coconuts

Coconuts have a host of health benefits, including being a great source of manganese, which is essential for bone health and for the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and cholesterol. Coconuts are also a good source of fiber, which can promote gut health, and they’re a great source of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), a type of fatty acid that can help with weight loss (which is why coconuts are super friendly and on-trend with popular high-fat, low-carb diets like keto and paleo). Check out more coconut health benefits here.

Coconuts are truly unique in that they are often associated with indulgent, tropical escapes. As such, they can help turn a regular afternoon in the backyard into a Polynesian getaway! The coconut shell makes an excellent vessel for a drink or slushy. You can also take the meat and make delicious Blood Orange Coconut Yogurt or a Young Coconut Sugar Cream Pie, or use the water for Coconut Yogurt Chia Pudding.

So, as we here at Frieda’s like to say, just add a straw and an umbrella and you too can go “coco” for coconuts!

 

To check out more of our Ultimate Guides, click here, here and here.