Product Update

Is Coconuts Naturally Still in Business? (2026 Update)

Is Coconuts Naturally from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Coconuts Naturally today.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 21 May 20266 min read

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Coconuts Naturally was a Cornwall-based organic, dairy-free ice cream brand that had one of the more dramatic Dragons' Den stories in this batch, turning down not one but two investment offers on air, only to run into serious trouble years later. Coconuts Naturally is no longer trading, and the short answer to the title question is no.

The Short Answer

The company, which had rebranded to Cecily's by the time of its collapse, called in liquidators after being hit hard by supply chain disruption and a shortage of the CO2 and dry ice needed to make and store its product. Rising raw material costs and Brexit and Covid-era supply issues around sourcing packaging compounded the problem, leaving the business unable to keep up with orders for its retail listings.

Hundreds of crowdfunding investors who had backed the brand's later funding rounds were reportedly left facing losses of around 750,000 pounds, and the company's remaining staff lost their jobs when it went under. Liquidators did manage to secure a sale of the business to an independent ice cream manufacturer that supplies the foodservice trade, so some remnant of the operation continues under new ownership, but the consumer-facing brand itself has closed.

The Pitch

Coconuts Naturally pitched in series 16, episode 6, in the Food and Drink category. Founder Cecily Mills brought her organic, dairy-free ice cream to the Den, a genuinely rare product at the time, since non-dairy organic ice cream was hard to find on UK shelves in 2018.

She asked for 75,000 pounds for 30 percent of the business. Peter Jones was reportedly effusive about the product itself, calling it the best ice cream he had tasted, and the pitch drew multiple offers, an unusual outcome that reflects genuinely strong product-market fit at the demo stage.

Turning Down the Deal

Coconuts Naturally received two separate offers on the day, but Mills turned both down after the show, choosing instead to raise money through crowdfunding on Seedrs rather than give up equity to a Dragon.

That decision echoed a pattern seen elsewhere on this list, a founder who valued outside capital and public exposure from the Den appearance, but preferred a broader base of smaller investors to a single powerful individual holding a chunk of the company.

What Went Wrong

Food manufacturing businesses, especially small ones dependent on specialist inputs like CO2 and dry ice for cold-chain logistics, were hit particularly hard during the supply disruptions of the Brexit transition and the Covid pandemic. A shortage of a single critical input, like the CO2 needed to keep frozen product cold in transit, can be enough to stop a small manufacturer fulfilling retail orders even when demand for the product itself is healthy.

That appears to be roughly what happened here. Rising costs and repeated supply shocks eventually overwhelmed a business that, on the strength of its product and its crowdfunding success, had looked like one of the more promising stories to come out of that series.

A Cautionary Tale About External Shocks

Coconuts Naturally is a useful case study in just how much a small manufacturer's fate can hinge on factors completely outside the founder's control. This was a brand with a genuinely well-reviewed product, multiple Dragons competing to invest, and a successful crowdfunding raise that showed real customer demand. None of that was enough to survive a sustained squeeze on the specific inputs the business depended on to physically make and ship its product.

It is a reminder that turning down investment to keep more equity and control, the choice Cecily Mills made after the Den, can look like the right call for years and still not be enough to carry a business through a genuinely severe external shock. The crowdfunding backers who lost money here were not backing a poorly run business, they were backing one that ran into a supply chain crisis that hit small food manufacturers across the country particularly hard.

Where Things Stand Now

Coconuts Naturally pitched in series 16 for 75,000 pounds at 30 percent, turned down two on-air offers, and instead crowdfunded on Seedrs. The brand, later rebranded as Cecily's, went into liquidation after being crushed by supply chain disruption and rising costs, with hundreds of crowdfunding backers facing significant losses. Liquidators sold the business assets on to a foodservice ice cream manufacturer.

If you are looking for the original Coconuts Naturally brand on shelves today, it is no longer trading, and any of its products you might find are old stock rather than a currently operating company.

Where to buy Coconuts Naturally

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See the full Coconuts Naturally deal breakdown and term sheet →