A loss of innocence?
I’ve always had a soft spot for Innocent Smoothies. Quite apart from the high quality of the product, I liked the company’s back story – it was set up ten years ago by three mates who bought £500 worth of fruit, and made smoothies to sell at a small London music festival. So when I heard today that it has just sold a £30m 20 per cent stake to Coca Cola, it left me feeling a little glum. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve no real problem with Coke, even if its Dasani brand of bottled water was shown to come directly from the delicious London public water supply a couple of years ago. It is, however, inevitably going to completely swallow the Innocent brand despite what its three founders are saying today and it’s always sad to see the good guys going over to the dark side.
