Coco Products is proud to announce that CocoAbsorb™ has been given the Popular Mechanics Editor’s Choice Award for New Product Design and Innovation at SEMA 2013.
“We’re honored and humbled to receive this award.” Says President/CEO Toby Wilson, “I’ve read Popular Mechanics ever since I was a kid, but never would have imagined that a product my family developed and marketed would show up on their radar.”
Made entirely of shredded coconut coir, Coco Absorb is a revolutionary way to clean up spills and most don’t know that it’s oil-loving properties were discovered by accident.
CocoAbsorb’s™ beginnings actually date back to the early 1990’s when Bob Wilson entered retirement after 30 years as a Hostess delivery driver. It was then that he was introduced to coconut coir, a natural and renewable by-product of the coconut industry. Coconut husks are processed for the long fibers and the remaining material can be used as a water retention substitute and when mixed with soil. Bob started one of the first companies in North America to provide shredded coconut fiber to nurseries as a peat moss substitute. Bob’s son Rob, who also owned a crane company, frequently helped his dad deliver coir to the local nurseries.
In the mid 90’s the Wilson family relocated to Utah. It was at job site with Rob’s crane company that an accident forever changed the absorbent landscape. A crane that Rob was operating blew a hydraulic hose sending gallons of hydraulic fluid rushing over the road. At first Rob tried throwing sand on the fluid, which did little to nothing. He then remembered the two bags coconut coir in his vehicle that he was supposed to deliver later that day. He grabbed a bag and started throwing handfuls of the shredded husks over the growing pool of hydraulic fluid. Rob watched in amazement as the coir immediately expanded and fully absorbed the liquid. That day the product we know as CocoAbsorb™ was born.
The Wilsons hard work and a naturally superior product gained hundreds of customers all over Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. Their accounts ranged from small local mechanics, large car dealers, and city municipalities to fire departments.
“In the past we’ve been fairly limited to large industrial users, but in the last six months we’ve developed new retail packaging.” says Toby Wilson, “I’m excited to take the family business to the next level. Now the everyday consumer can enjoy the benefits of CocoAbsorb™ in their own garages.”
Although CocoAbsorb™ has become Coco Products’ flagship brand, we are continuing to innovate with products like CocoDry™, a coir based paint hardener that works on all types of waste paint. We are also known for their wide range of quality coir based products used in the nursery, pet and erosion control industries.
