By Melissa Deng*

Coconut Cult, Cocojune, Cocoyo –– lately, it feels like these names have taken center stage in the yogurt fridge of large retail grocery stores.  Coconut “yogurts” have been all the rage, fueled by social media buzz and their branding as a vegan alternative to traditional dairy yogurt.   Typically sitting alongside other yogurt competitors in the dairy fridge, Cocoyo touts itself as a “raw coconut yogurt” with “200 billion probiotics.”  A quick search for Coconut Cult on TikTok reveals videos from proclaimed dieticians and ordinary food influencers claiming that in order to reap the full benefits, you can only eat one spoonful of its multi-serve jar a day.  Some content creators lay out other “rules” as follows: don’t you dare use a metal spoon, lest you invoke the wrath of the live cultured probiotics; don’t double-dip (a maxim on its website that appears on some jars); the list goes on.