Innocent. The inside story of Innocent told from the outside

They had a brand, and a way of communicating with consumers, that brought smiles to people’s faces. They caught the mood of the times. They were the little guys winning against the big guys. And they were innocent.

Certainly we reserve judgement on most brands, never wholeheartedly believing that they will always tell the truth. Brands have become a bit like politicians; the only sensible attitude is to mistrust them. The more brands “spin” the less inclined we are to believe them. You might regard this book as an example of brand spin. It includes more than a few small lies. But I lied about the lies.

ics and standards? The times are out of joint. We have become so used to not believing anything that we believe only what we are told not to believe at all.

nnocent is proud to use 10 per cent for what it sees as good causes, but equally proud to use the 90 per cent to grow its own business. Innocent’s continuing growth, and increasing profits, will fund the foundation.

The Innocent Foundation was set up in July 2004. It was designed to bring cohesion and strategy to a whole series of good works and good causes that Innocent had supported since its founding days. These ranged from tree planting in UK cities to giving smoothies to the homeless, as well as developing projects in the countries where Innocent sources its fruit. The foundation now works in partnership with community based projects and NGOs in the countries that supply the largest amount of Innocent’s fruit and have the greatest need (identified by the UN Development Need Index).

Each year, 10 per cent of profits gets paid into the Innocent Foundation, a separate registered charity.

arly in Innocent’s history, the company started using plastic bottles made from 25 per cent recycled material. This was a high proportion at the time, and improved when the proportion went up to 50 per cent in 2005. The search for improvement continued, and in 2007 Innocent introduced the world’s first 100 per cent recycled plastic bottle.

he “be responsible” brand value is the most moralistic of the Innocent values. Be true to our principles, and do what we believe is right. To be conscious of the consequences of our actions, in both the short and long term. To leave things a little better than we find them, and to encourage others to join us too.

This idea of naturally doing good through the product you make has an influence on the whole philosophy of the company and the brand. Unlike many other companies that might claim to be “responsible” Innocent can approach the subject with the absolute minimum of guilt. I

Responsibility starts with the product itself. Innocent produce drinks that taste good and are good for you.

The message to the retailer is “we care” and we will work with you so that we both sell as much as possible.