Once Upon A Coconut has signed professional basketball player Sophie Cunningham as a brand partner, deploying her across retail activations, advertising, and digital campaigns as the premium coconut water brand pushes toward mainstream shelf recognition.
The Columbia, Mo., native — a former high-school All-American and college standout — will appear in national marketing initiatives that roll out across Once Upon A Coconut platforms and retail accounts beginning this summer. The company is framing the deal less as a traditional endorsement and more as integrated brand storytelling, with Cunningham participating in community and charitable programs the two parties jointly support.
Why Retail Activation Matters
For a brand competing in a crowded better-for-you beverage set, athlete partnerships that extend to the store level carry more weight than social posts alone. Once Upon A Coconut says it will use Cunningham's presence at retail activations — a move that could help the brand earn secondary placement and drive trial in the natural and premium segments of the cold-vault. The hydration and coconut water category has gained momentum at convenience and specialty retail as operators look to diversify dispensed beverage and packaged drink sets beyond traditional sports drinks and energy.
For c-store buyers and category managers, the coconut water shelf has become more crowded over the past several years, with established natural-channel brands crossing over into the forecourt cooler. Brands that can demonstrate consumer pull through athlete credibility and community giving have a cleaner pitch for incremental facings.
Giving-Back Angle
Once Upon A Coconut donates 10% of its profits to charitable endeavors — a positioning element the company plans to amplify through Cunningham's community work. John Chiorando, Founder and CEO, described the pairing as rooted in shared values rather than athlete visibility alone. "There is a toughness and resiliency to her, and at the same time, compassion and camaraderie," Chiorando said. "That authenticity is incredibly powerful."
Cunningham echoed the alignment: "Their all-natural flavors and ingredients fit perfectly with my lifestyle and I'm proud to represent a brand so committed to giving back."
The better-for-you beverage space has seen a wave of purpose-driven marketing, with brands using charitable commitments to differentiate against private-label and legacy competitors. For single-store operators and regional chains evaluating the cold-vault mix, a brand with a built-in giving narrative can support in-store point-of-sale storytelling — an advantage in a set where many products look similar on the shelf.
Once Upon A Coconut has positioned itself as a premium, flavor-forward alternative in a category that critics have long called bland, and the Cunningham partnership represents an effort to translate that brand personality into a nationally recognized lifestyle presence. Whether the campaign generates measurable velocity gains at the channel level will depend on execution at the retail tier — where activations, pricing, and cold-vault placement ultimately drive trial and repeat purchase.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
