Drinks could enter recession as Coke plans to buy stake in Innocent

The drinks company Coca-Cola has emerged as one of the frontrunners in a bid to buy a minority stake in Innocent Drinks as the smoothie maker’s founders are looking to raise money to support an international expansion.

Innocent was founded 11 years ago by Adam Balon, Jon Wright and Richard Reed, graduates of Cambridge university who in 1998 bought £500 worth of fruit and made smoothies selling from a stall at a London jazz festival.

Initially the any potential collaboration would seem importable due to the branding of Innocent as an organization driven by ethics and green credentials.

Although Coca-Cola may have been influenced by a recent study by the Carbon Trust, which revealed that a 330ml can of Coke was responsible for producing 170g of CO2 whilst while Innocent’s 250ml bottle of mango and passionfruit smoothie produced 209g of CO2.

This has been rebuffed by innocent as an unfair comparison although it does highlight that the move is not improbable and the initial obstacle of brand incompatibility may be overcome.

Innocent are likely to use some of the capital raised to expand the range outside smoothie products following a 20 percent fall in sales 134.1m to £107m and develop on from the range development having launched Veg Pots.

Story link: Drinks could enter recession as Coke plans to buy stake in Innocent