High-Hanging Fruit

June 15, 2016

This is a memoir of Rampolla leaving his executive position at International Paper, despite being offered a promotion, in order to start ZICO, a coconut water company. It is a happy story as he succeeds financially (ZICO is ultimately sold to Coca-Cola) and also achieves another sort of accomplishment. Rampolla, a former Peace Corps volunteer, believes his company has contributed positively to the economic development of Latin American countries, offering a healthier alternative to conventional soft drinks. Thus he used capitalism to help others--both coconut growers and consumers--while also profiting himself. For Rampolla, there is a triple bottom line (money, social effects, and personal meaning), and he is satisfied that ZICO has met all three standards. In addition to his idealism, this book describes the hard work and difficulties encountered in starting and building the company. His relationship with the distributors is vividly portrayed. The author seems self-aware and is not above some self-criticism. He offers bits of advice now and then, but his main goal is to tell a tale. VERDICT This book will appeal to would-be entrepreneurs of an optimistic bent who are seeking inspiration.--Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
Consumer products are probably one of the most difficult industries for entrepreneurs to break intoespecially in the beverage business, with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo as the 800-pound gorillas. On the other hand, that's exactly what Rampolla did, from a starting point of lots of passion but few contacts and little knowledge. That passion, however, carried him and his investors full circle into an eventual partnership with and buyout from Coke. Here then is the story of dreams come true: an expat who worked for International Paper in Latin America, Rampolla was being groomed for higher executive levelsbut he wanted to build a company, not just work for one. He and his wife, having had many encounters with local coconut waters, targeted that niche as the perfect product and founded ZICO. Both setbacks and successes confronted the company, with such obstacles as finding reputable global sources for the coconuts, convincing distributors to carry the product, even building the right team. This honest motivational tome is bound to inspire at least one wannabe entrepreneur.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)