Rodrigo Veloso, a fifth-generation coffee grower from Brazil, knew what business to start when he attended school in Sweden: a coffee business. He imported the beans, launched his own brand and eventually started a small chain of shops. He was 19 when he began.

However, it wasn’t coffee that Veloso introduced to the United States, but another Brazilian import: coconut water. Veloso’s venture, O.N.E. (One Natural Experience) World Enterprises, evolved from a business plan that he entered into different competitions in Latin America and the United States. “I wrote a business plan on how to introduce exotic functional Brazilian fruit juices in the U.S.,” Veloso said.

Veloso’s plan didn’t win the U.S. competition, but at a Texas event, Veloso found leads for investors and met his future wife, Emilie, who is O.N.E.’s president.

Veloso established O.N.E. in 2005 with profits from selling his Swedish coffee shop chain, and seed money from one California investor.

The company soon launched its first line of alternative beverages, O.N.E. Coconut Water. The liquid is filtered through the dense fibers of coconuts for nine months.

After selling the coconut water in Whole Foods stores for eight months, the Kroger Co. approached O.N.E. about distributing the product in its grocery stores nationwide.

His success with the coconut water prompted Veloso to explore another exotic Brazilian fruit, acai. O.N.E.’s Amazon Acai juice is made from the indigenous berry and cut with a splash of acerola, Amazon cherry juice.

“I knew the U.S. was the market for these products,” Veloso said.

The United States also served as the perfect market for Veloso’s entrepreneurial drive, but his success didn’t come without challenges. He learned to speak English, but “not that great.” And since Veloso didn’t attend school in the United States, he faced obstacles in learning how Americans do business. But none of that slowed him much. In March, O.N.E. launched two more products: coffee berry and cashew juice.

“The U.S. is the largest importer of coffee and cashews, so I am excited to educate and to show (people) they aren’t only a bean or a nut, but fruit,” Veloso said.

Both products will be available in Whole Foods and Kroger stores in the coming months.

Alexa Hyland

Rodrigo Veloso

, 29, Chief Executive, O.N.E. (One

Natural Experience) World Enterprises, Los Angeles

Business: Develops and

packages coconut water, acai juice, coffee berry juice and cashew juice

Employees: 14

Revenues: $2 million

Fact: O.N.E. packages its juices in Tetra Paks, an environmentally friendly

alternative to bottles and aluminum cans.

Quote: “Every year that I traveled to Brazil to visit my family, I saw coconut water becoming bigger and bigger. It became so popular that McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Wal-Mart had their own private labels.”