Have Innocent smoothies lost their innocence?

Innocent drinks, founded in 1999, sells 100% natural smoothies and juices in the UK. Known for their bottles and cartons in the grocery store, they’ve seen great growth since their 3-person start at a music festival. Personally, I find their smoothies truly delicious and nutritious and hope to one day see them in the US. Innocent also uses green energy and donates 10% of their profits to the Innocent Foundation, a charity focused on the countries where Innocent purchases produce. As of February of this year, Innocent drinks took a significant turn when Coca Cola became the majority shareholder at 90%.

Coca Cola first purchased stake in the company in 2009 at 18%. During the economic downturn and fruit price inflation, Innocent struggled financially and this backing supported their operations and innovations. In 2010, Coca Cola’s stake increased to 58%. Amidst this buyout, Innocent has also faced controversy surrounding its donations to the Innocent Foundation. In 2007, it held onto £520,000 that it pledged to donate. From 2008 to 2011 it was not profitable and in turn donated nothing. In 2011, Innocent committed £250,000 even without profits so that Innocent Foundation could continue their operations. It is not clear what will happen in the future.

Since Coca Cola’s investment in Innocent, it has doubled in size. In contrast to Bloom’s recommendations in How to Take a Social Venture to Scale, Innocent simply brought in a much larger partner with vast resources. It is possible that without Coca Cola’s support, Innocent would not have survived the past four years. Although Innocent says nothing about the company will change with Coca Cola’s new ownership, details on the deal are not public.

Theoretically the deal could allow this social enterprise to grow and expand geographically. However, Innocent lost some of its identity and control along the way. Is Innocent still considered a social enterprise now that it belongs to Coca Cola? Was the deal worth the potential sacrifice to the cause?

Resources

Innocent and Coca-Cola deal for further investment

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/us/press/release/130222-innocent-and-coca-cola-agree-deal-for-further-investment

Innocent smoothie maker says charity cash bottled for best interest rate

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/may/26/innocent-smoothies-charity-cash

Not so Innocent now... Bumper payday for trio of Cambridge graduates who founded ethical smoothie maker after Coca-Cola snaps up firm for a fruity £100m

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284834/Bumper-payday-trio-Innocent-founders-Coca-Cola-snaps-stakes-fruity-100m.html