Innocent Smoothies

We were disappointed too*gm*. We liked the proclaimed ethics of the founders. Having said that, if coca cola offered me squillions for something I possessed, I think I would find it difficult to turn them down.

Pret a Manger did the same thing. (it might have been to Macdonalds). And Green and Blacks too.
I cant say i blame them. At the end of the day they are business people who have worked hard and cleverly developed their brand in a particular way. No more annual meetings with people sitting on the floor then.
Some of the junk food giants want to develop/acquire non-junky brands to improve their own image.
Innocent smoothies are delicious, particularly the apple and lime one. They do however contain a lot of sugar, just like fruit juice.

Not disappointed. It's how the world works. I'd probably do the same (and suspect most other gransnetters would too) if I'd worked hard building up a successful business and then wanted to retire on the proceeds.

Good luck to them, I say.

And let's hope the smoothies will stay as pure and delicious, but if they don't, that some other enterprising person starts all over again with a similar product.

And also gets to retire comfortably on the fruits of their work.

I think it's a shame. Very disappointing.

It is a shame that in the end the lure / love of big money appears to change a business's core values! However that's capitalism at work..money it's said makes the world go round.
Apparently their originators will still have a voice in future decisions and a % of profits continue to go to charity.

I like to think that I would not 'sell out' (if I had something worth selling) but honestly do not know what I would do!

Is this a recent thing? I thought it happened a while ago and was relieved to read that they still had some control over the business. Perhaps it's to get a more worldwide market which coca cola would help with [I'm in Dragon's Den land here, even though I don't watch it]. Aren't they very good to their work force as well? Which, hopefully won't move abroad totally [think other takeovers ]. Think The Body Shop sale was the one that hurt me the most.

I think it is an expression of their success that we become emotionally attached to the brands.

Hard work, clever marketing, successful outcome. Good luck to them.

Presumably the Innocent Smoothies will remain the same, regardless of who actually owns the company, and if that's the case, then I don't see a problem. (Nor if it isn't the case, actually).

If one built a house 20 years ago at X amount, spent lots of money improving it over the years, and then decided to sell it, I doubt anyone would object to it being sold at today's market value with an enjoyment of the profits. It could then be done all over again.

It's like the Body Shop selling out to L'Oreal and Green and Black selling out to Cadbury.

But it is bigger than that anno as L'Oreal has Nestle as a major shareholder and they will own the lot when the old lady dies. Nestle have taken over lots of brands and dumbed down the products, particularly lovely ice creams which now just taste like any other or so I am told. I boycott Nestle under all circumstances, even take my own inst coffee to hotels just in case.

I heared on the radio last week that Nestle have removed ready made beef products in 2 European countries but not the UK. As the products are the same wherever they are sold presumably they think they can get away with in the UK.

Also, with Cadbury being taken over by Kraft, Green and Black is submerged in something even bigger. Did someone mention Liz Earle becoming part of Avon?

And, of course, Ben and Jerry's is part of Unilever and you don't get much bigger than that!

Thing is they're not just selling a product but a lifestyle choice and that must have a risk of alienating their customers? What really gets my back up is when they stop production in this country and people lose their jobs.

Why does every company and entrepreneur always want to be a mega business? What is wrong in running a small or medium size business that is successful and desirable? Where the owner keeps a finger on the pulse of their business and takes pride in its products.

I am not sure that I would be prepared to sell anything to anybody if the price they offered was high enough.

They're not selling "anything" to "anybody"; They're selling a small business to a larger business so that they can live comfortably for the rest of their
ives. Perfectly reasonable thing to do. It's not like selling your soul to the devil, you know!

Someone will say it is. #watchthisspace

Mine was a more general comment than specifically aimed at Innocent Smoothies. The owners of Innocent are relatively young, 30s/40s, so I doubt they will do nothing for the rest of their lives, probably start a new business.

But we do have these companies, names already mentioned, who take the high moral ground while they build their company, which attracts customers that share the moral values the company claims to espouse then sell out to one of the big companies they have been disassociating themselves from while building the business. It leaves an unpleasant taste, and that applies to smoothies. I tried a smoothie once, no idea what brand, and I disliked it intensely.

Can't say I'd ever noticed Innocent dissociating themsleves with anyone. Did they really say negative things about other companies or just blow their own trumpet? They certainly promoted pure smoothies rather well.

sorry... from anyone

If Coca Cola have any sense (and they do seem to be a fairly market savvy company), they'll use the strengths of the Innocent brand and not change its image. Much easier than trying to compete with something similar that they have to start from scratch.

I agree. The brand will not be untainted for some people though.
But, well I go to Pret because their sandwiches are much nicer than any other packaged sandwiches and their staff are brilliant. They have retained their core strengths.

I'm disappointed by this. But the worst one for me was discovering that Stella McCartney - vegetarian designer who prides herself on not using fur or leather in any of her range - allows her perfume to be made by L'Oreal - tests on animals. That really is a sellout

I think people who object to the power of the huge multi-nationals will always feel peeved, sad and unhappy about takeovers of smaller businesses. It all feels a bit greedy that a few companies own so many! I do think that the richer /bigger multinationals get the more they control..in terms of power in developing countries etc. as well as withing the Western world. I always feel it is a bit insidious.

It frequently seems that no matter how successful a company or an individual is, they are quite willing to sell themselves off to the highest bidder. I notice this with famous (and seemingly well respected) people who are quite happy to front adverts for life insurance policies (many of which have been discredited), same day loan companies, etc., etc.

So far as Innocent is concerned, the marketing implied that Innocent drinks were "healthy" drinks but I read in a newspaper article that they contain 6 tsps. of sugar - so not that healthy!

I thought the whole point of setting up a business to sell something was to make a profit. Obviously it's nice if the product is a good one (and lots of people seem to think the Innocent smoothies are a good product though some 'have issues' about the sugar content of fruit (that's the fruits' problem, not the smoothie-makers since they aren't adding any more sugar)), but I suspect the profit motive is just as important to the entrepreneurs as people's feelings about their porduct. If their product hadn't taken off successfully, they'd have sold out yonks ago.

Seems to me, the main issue is envy about someone else's success story, plus a dislike of capitalism which, whether we like it or not, is one of the main things our civilisation depends on. No, I'm not defending the multinationals, just acknowledging that small businesses work on the same basic principles as the big ones.

Usually, all that changes when a company is bought up like this, is the name of the owners. All the other management and employees remain the same.