Fijian Henry Gosling and his wife Sandra, walked away with the Queensland Premier’s Emerging Exporter of the Year Award in Brisbane the past week for the CO YO products.

CO YO exports Australasia’s first commercially produced, non-dairy, yoghurt and ice cream alternatives using coconut.
The products offer naturally-delicious alternatives for people with dietary and digestive challenges.
Launched in Australia in early 2010, CO YO’s domestic success attracted international investors keen to distribute its innovative products.

“Who would have thought that learning to grate coconuts on the back steps of my family home in Suva as a boy growing up in Fiji would now lead to a product made from coconut and manufactured in Australia, USA and UK.”
These were the comments by Mr Gosling.

He has further encourage those in the coconut industry in Fiji to think outside the square as there are lots of opportunism for using coconut other than oil and copra.

CO YO is now produced and distributed under license in the United Kingdom and the United States, with plans well underway for further expansion.

The company also began exporting to New Zealand from its Sunshine Coast base in late 2013, with rapid market growth expected to facilitate the establishment of a dedicated New Zealand-based manufacturing facility in the near future.
Sunshine Coast Major Mark Jamieson said: “CO YO is the epitome of bold thinking and real action, the foundations of success in any business.

“I congratulate directors Henry and Sandra Gosling who started the company in their home. Through hard work and innovative ideas, they have gone on to become a global brand.

“These awards recognise the best of the best in the export industry and CO YO has shown it is up there with them and helping put Sunshine Coast on the world map.
CO YO’s latest win comes on the back of the company taking out the Ingredient Innovation category at the Food Magazine Awards for the third year running in August.

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