What followed was a period of kitchen experimentation until a format emerged that could genuinely work at a commercial scale. Initially, Well’B supplied raw flesh and trained chefs to handle it themselves. That proved impractical: the preparation was messy and time-consuming. The solution was to take processing in-house, cutting the flesh into consistent shapes and thicknesses before it reached the kitchen, and CocoKami was born.

The product is now a frozen, ready-to-cook ingredient available in three cuts — strip, chunk, and a softer roll format, which Chong describes as reminiscent of squid or cuttlefish in texture. Each behaves differently under heat. Simmered in curry, it becomes yielding and soft; stir-fried, it firms up; deep-fried, it crisps on the outside while maintaining a clean bite inside. Its versatility lends itself to dishes that mimic fried squid and fried anchovies, as well as various stir-fry dishes in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines. It can also be used in sushi rolls, tossed into salad and adapted to Korean and Chinese preparations with equal ease.

“Our objective has always been to introduce coconut flesh as a new type of white meat,” Youle says. “Traditionally, when people think of white meat, they think of chicken. We want people to think of coconut as another naturally versatile option.”

It just so happens that this ‘meat’ is vegan, fibre-rich and made with a single ingredient.

The positioning is deliberately distinct from the crowded field of plant-based meat alternatives. CocoKami carries no long ingredient list, no unfamiliar binders or additives. Youle, who is a vegetarian herself, is candid about her scepticism of the category. “Many meat alternatives contain ingredients I don’t recognise, and I don’t particularly enjoy their texture. Our philosophy is different. We wanted consumers to recognise every ingredient and feel comfortable eating it.”