Why it matters:
- The U.S. oral care market, currently estimated at $10.27 billion, is projected to reach $11.22 billion by 2030.
- Dental disruptor Cocolab went from selling its flavored, fashion-forward floss to friends and family to landing on CVS and Target shelves as it rebranded a common, utilitarian bathroom item.
- The brand’s work to get consumers excited about flossing helped it become one of the fastest-growing companies in the oral care space.
A few years out of dental school, Chrystle Cu had a thriving dental practice in San Mateo, California, but she felt frustrated. So many patients had cavities. Better flossing could have prevented the problem.
To clear her mind, she took a trip to Peru to do volunteer dental work. There, peoples’ dental problems were only worse.
The experience sparked Cu’s determination to disrupt dental care — starting with the most neglected habit of all: flossing.
“I thought, if I could just transform the way people feel about oral care, then maybe we could have a shot at reducing oral diseases.”
Along with her younger sister, Cat, Cu launched Cocofloss in 2015, a line of spongelike woven dental floss made from recycled polyester and coated with wax and coconut oil, designed as an alternative to most brands. The strawberry, coconut, mint, and orange flavors and bright packaging were a stark departure from major oral care company products. The sisters sold the floss, which fans saw as fashionable, on their website and at dental practices.
Now, 11 years on with an updated name, Cocolab’s expanded line — featuring a dozen floss flavors and other oral care products — is sold in two-thirds of CVS stores. In July, Cocolab launched on Target.com, and it made the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies of 2025, with 177% three-year growth.
Cocolab is disrupting the $10.27 billion U.S. oral care market, which is projected to reach $11.22 billion by 2030, according to Statista.
“We pull people in with our fun branding and the fact that our floss smells different than they’re used to … with its array of fragrances,” Cu said. “Then, when you use it and see how great it works, it gives people an instant reward type of feeling.”
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Cocolab tapped into its founders’ personal and professional networks for product testing, turning those connections into its first wave of early adopters
The company traces its roots to 2013, when Cu spent her days at her dental practice and her evenings and weekends with her sister Cat designing a new kind of floss. The following year, they reached out to manufacturers to create a prototype. They created a Photoshop mock-up of their envisioned final product and presold it to their Facebook friends.
“We sold the idea first,” said Cu. “We wanted to prove it was something people would put money behind.” They used funds to buy samples; packed them into sandwich bags; and sent them to friends, family, and Cu’s dental colleagues to try the floss and share their feedback.
They leaned on Cu’s dental school classmates and her Wellesley College alumnae network, reaching the latter via the college’s private Facebook groups.
“This company was really built through Wellesley Facebook groups,” Cu said. “Wellesley alumnae were among our earliest adopters.”
A 21-day flossing challenge the sisters ran on Facebook helped them gather data on customer needs around flossing that ultimately shaped their final product.
Buy-in from dentists, Gwyneth Paltrow, and the Instagram effect: ‘We wanted a reason for people to photograph their floss, to bring it out in the open, to take it out of their bathroom drawer.’
For the startup, growth for the first four years came largely from word of mouth. The sisters dropped off Cocofloss samples at dentists’ offices, and dentists recommended it to their patients. The brand also launched a social media campaign on Instagram early on that proved successful.
“We wanted a reason for people to photograph their floss, to bring it out in the open, to take it out of their bathroom drawer,” Cu said.
They created a Photoshop mock-up of their envisioned final product and presold it to their Facebook friends. ‘We sold the idea first,’ said Cu. ‘We wanted to prove it was something people would put money behind.’
Their #JetSetCocoFloss campaign invited people to share photos of their floss on the go, inspiring others to prioritize oral care while traveling. Cocofloss made appearances at events like the Coachella music festival and on a friend’s heliskiing (helicopter skiing) adventure.
Another pivotal moment came in 2016 when the brand focused on sending samples to celebrities in an effort to nab endorsements. Cat emailed Gwyneth Paltrow’s assistant, expecting no response, but the assistant requested samples. Months later, she heard back that Paltrow had tried the floss and that her wellness and lifestyle brand Goop would start to carry it.
“That was a really big win for the brand,” Cat said.
The company managed to get its product on retailer sites new to oral care items, including Free People and Anthropologie. CVS reached out in 2023 — the buyer was a Cocofloss enthusiast after her dental hygienist turned her on to the product.
[Read more: How Brands Are Using AI to Optimize Digital Out-of-Home Advertising]
The brand is aiming to challenge the norm of dentists handing out only major oral care brand samples after cleanings
In 2021, the company launched a toothbrush, and in 2023, its Cocoshine Whitening Toothpaste. It also sells a kids’ reflosser and a heart-shaped tongue scraper. This spring, it rebranded to Cocolab and has additional new oral care products in the works.
This holiday season, Target stores will carry a limited-edition Cocofloss stocking stuffer gift set. Each year, the sisters dedicate time to creating whimsical holiday packaging —last year’s design was après ski, and this year’s is Nutcracker-inspired.
“We try to bring a surprisingly magical gift experience to oral care,” Cu said, “and these holiday campaigns are very successful. It’s a busy time for us.”
Cocolab tries to differentiate itself with eco-conscious materials whenever it can. It uses recycled polyester sourced from post-consumer water bottles, and its refillable floss dispensers can be recycled through Pact Collective.
One major ongoing challenge is how to compete with big oral care brands. Dentists can order product samples to hand out to their patients in post-cleaning goody bags.
“The challenge is that a lot of these other brands are very nearly giving away their products for free,” Cu said. “It's really hard to compete with that, and very challenging.”
And while it’s an uphill battle at times, the sisters continue to make inroads in getting dentists to buy Cocolab products to give away to their patients.
“It’s working,” Cu said. “The industry norm is to give products for free, but we’re changing that.”
At the same time, social media continues to be a powerful driver to reach new customers, especially on Instagram, where the brand delivers a “daily hit of dental dopamine.”
The sisters are also banking on a major price drop for their toothpaste in October — from $22 to $15 — made possible by lower ingredient costs from increased production, hoping it will help them compete more effectively. The major oral care brands tend to charge anywhere from $3 to $8 for a tube of toothpaste.
Perhaps the most important factor, however, Cat said, is having an effective product that customers love and rally behind.
“Cocofloss grew organically because the product really does feel different, and it speaks for itself,” she said. “You have to put the time into great, thoughtful products.”
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