Inc. Magazine: “How a Coconut Yogurt Experiment Became a Cult-Favorite Grocery Phenomenon” featuring Cambridge Companies SPG, Ari Raz, Filipp Chebotarev & Noah Simon-Wadell
The Coconut Cult grew 142 percent last year and is on track for another 90 percent in 2026.
Noah Simon-Waddell wasn’t trying to start a business. He just wanted to fix his stomach.
About a decade ago, he felt sick almost every time he ate. After years of digestive issues with little relief from conventional medication, he cut out processed foods and started experimenting with coconut-based yogurt infused with probiotic strains he had been reading about online.
The effect was immediate, so he shared it with friends. They asked for jars, then more jars, then wanted to buy them. In 2015, Simon-Waddell brought on two close collaborators, James Harkin, one of the friends who had first tried the samples, and New York City-based graphic designer Jungho Oh, to help him turn the experiment into a company called The Coconut Cult.
Today, its fermented coconut yogurt sits on shelves at Whole Foods, Erewhon, Sprouts Farmers Market, The Fresh Market, and Target alongside conventional dairy staples. The Utah-based company is a leading probiotic yogurt brand with a cult-like fan base and about 250,000 Instagram followers. From 2024 to 2025, it grew 142 percent and is on track for another 90 percent increase this year.
When The Coconut Cult first landed at Erewhon in early 2017—thanks to a connection through a neighbor who had tried one of the early samples—it didn’t resemble a traditional CPG brand. According to Simon-Waddell, that was intentional. “I thought it would be more fun to do something playful or mysterious,” he says. “I wanted to engage with customers in a more fun, interactive way and make them feel like: ‘Is it a business? Is it a cult? What’s going on with this weird yogurt?’”
The Coconut Cult sells eight-ounce jars priced between $10 and $14 and 16 ounce jars ranging from $17 to $39, depending on whether they’re purchased in-store or directly from the company’s website. The $39 price tag reflects the cost of insulated, ice-packed shipping, according to the company’s website. But the brand only recommends a daily serving of one to two tablespoons because of the yogurt’s high concentration of probiotics, which helps explain the premium cost compared to other offerings.