innocent drinks

It's another week of us rolling into Parliament with a truck load of fruit and veg.   This time we hosted a stand at The Food and Drink Federation's “Shaping a Healthier Future” tasting event, bringing along our drinks that help people get more of the good stuff into their diets. Our new gut health shots were a massive hit, turns out MPs are into fibre, calcium, live cultures and apple cider vinegar, as much as we are.   There’s real momentum building around the need for bold, joined-up action across the food system and we’re proud to be part of that push. One step closer to fruit & veg for all.

Interviews are as much fun as getting water in your wellies- just without the amusing squelching sound. So, we asked our really hard-working Talent Team to share some tips with you all. Actually, we’ve heard a few people say we'd be lost without them. They definitely don’t help write our LinkedIn posts. Anyway, Here’s some free advice for you lot. You’re welcome. Head on down to our careers page below if you fancy putting it into practice.

Interviews are as much fun as getting water in your wellies- just without the amusing squelching sound. So, we asked our really hard-working Talent Team to share some tips with you all. Actually, we’ve heard a few people say we'd be lost without them. They definitely don’t help write our LinkedIn posts. Anyway, Here’s some free advice for you lot. You’re welcome. Head on down to our careers page below if you fancy putting it into practice.

An orange. A tortilla. A roundtable. All round. But only one of them brought together MPs, retailers, charities, NGOs and food organisations last week to tackle the UK’s fruit & veg deserts. And sadly, it wasn’t the tortilla.   At innocent, we think everyone should be getting their 5-a-day, but the latest NDNS data shows that less than 1 in 5 adults and less than 1 in 10 children are hitting that target. That’s why we’re on a mission to change things. A few weeks ago, we wrote an open letter to government with five key policy asks to help get more fruit & veg to people who need it most.   Last week, we took the conversation to Parliament, hosting a roundtable with a bunch of other brilliant organisations doing great things including Tesco, Alexandra Rose Charity, UKHarvest, and many more. Our very own Nick, was there too, leading the charge and championing the goodness of fruit & veg. We were joined by Minister Zeichner, MPs and peers who took the time to listen, share and help move the conversation forward.   We also shared our new report, with support from the British Nutrition Foundation, shining a spotlight on Fruit & Veg Deserts - areas where over 10 million people in the UK struggle to access fruit & veg. More on that soon.   A massive thanks to everyone who joined us, and a special shout out to Amanda Hack MP for chairing the roundtable. With a new National Food Strategy on the way, now’s the time to act together. Let’s make fruit and veg for all a reality.   And to all the organisations and individuals who signed our open letter - thank you.   Alexandra Rose Charity, Barfoots of Botley Ltd, Feeding Britain, The Felix Project, FEAST With Us, Gavin Wren, Hackney School of Food, Hubbub, Joe Woodhouse, UKHarvest, The Chichester Food & Drink Company.

ICONIC GROUPS OF FOUR.   The Beatles.   Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.   Our Werdah, James, Liv, and David.   At innocent, we have a yearly 'Your Future' chat. A conversation all about development to give our people the chance to speak about where they see their careers heading, and give our managers a better sense of how they can support their teams. It's something we talk about a lot in our 121s, but we also wanted to give it that extra oomph with its own official yearly meeting.   And as you lot might know from personal experience, it's tricky enough to decide on your next Netflix series, let alone where you want your career to go.   So we did the only normal thing we could think of to help give our people some inspiration. We put four innocent icons on a career panel and threw a pizza party.   It was an open and honest panel. Sharing their professional (and unprofessional) wisdom, lessons learnt, and how they took their career into their hands to really grow (up) at innocent.   We wanted to remind everyone that our work journeys look like zigzags or spirals more often than straight lines. The same applies to life but we'll save that wisdom for the book we're working on.   And if you see us in your future, check out the jobs we've got going. Link in the comments.

It’s fun staying in a fancy hotel, isn’t it? Just ask any of the bees that have nipped into one of our farmers’ bee hotels. They come from far and wide to stay in these country retreats, set up by the lovely suppliers involved in our Beacon Project.    Reducing pesticides and carbon in our supply chain, to make sure our soil is healthier and to help our farmers out in the long run, is important. We rely on the little guys who do our pollinating for 86% of our ingredients.   It's why we launched our Beacon Project, in our apple and orange supply chains. By planting wild flowers to attract pollinators and exploring better ways of managing pest control, we're decreasing our carbon footprint and growing a load more fruit, which is a win for us and a win for our farmers. We're nearly at the end of year three of our project, which we're buzzing about as it's showing a significant improvement in our apple quality. Not as buzzing as our Cameron though, who turned up to the team meeting in his World Bee Day best today.

It's Mental Health Week.   And it's LinkedIn, so you lot probably know that already.   At innocent, we're firm believers in making sure our people look after their whole selves, all 52 weeks of the year.   Life's a mix of highs and hiccups, and having the right self-care habits can make the tough times a little easier.   Since we’re all different, we asked some of our lovely bunch to share their go-to tips. Hopefully, they help.   And if you've got a gem of your own, pop it in the comments—we could all use a bit of wisdom for when we inevitably post that infamous Center Parcs trip on the wrong account again.

Turns out, having a sense of humor isn’t just good for wowing your mates at pub quizzes—it’s also essential for building a thriving workplace. At innocent, we’ve been blending chuckles into our culture for years. From our 'Guide to Eternal Meeting Happiness' to job descriptions demanding smoothie-drinking prowess, we reckon we’ve mastered the art of not taking ourselves too seriously. Our SJ recently sat down with Sam Forsdick to talk all about our culture, so if you want to know a little more about why we gave our Joe £1000 to learn the art of butter churning, give it a read.    

IT'S NATIONAL CAREERS WEEK If there’s something, we’re proud of, other than making seriously top-notch smoothies, its inspiring young people in our local communities to explore careers in FMCG.    But how?    Smoothie Lab    365 days ago we thought we'd show off all things innocent at the Museum of Brands. We know it was that long ago because we still have the same cold.    We set up a Smoothie Lab inside to let secondary school students have a go at making their perfect drinks and pitching them to a panel of Dragons. At least that's what we call Helen and Pete when they're not around.  From profits to marketing to standout packaging, they create products worthy of a spot in our office fridge.    Ignite Stars work experience programme    That’s the one where we let 14-year-olds run loose in our office for a week. In 5 days, they learn all about finance, packaging design, market insights, product development, and selling their product to a panel of strangers.    Sending our lot out to schools to deliver smoothie making sessions    That’s right, we’ve developed an educational lesson pack to enable our lot to head into schools to deliver “make your own smoothie” sessions. Teaching young ones, the basic principles of nutrition by allowing them to make and workout the nutritional values of their smoothies.    Check out their ideas below. Turns out school kids don’t have LinkedIn. Lucky them. So we’re going to brag on their behalf.  

WE STARTED A DOGGIE CLUB.   Our Laura had a lightbulb moment when she noticed there's plenty of people around the London office who wished they had furry friends and those that struggle to find care for theirs.   She asked us if she could start a club connecting dog owners to people who wanted to provide a bit of temporary care and get some company in return. We said yes. Obviously.   Fast forward a few months to when Laura spent Christmas with Matrix. Our CFO’s dog.   Why are we telling you this?   1. It was Walk Your Dog Day on Saturday and there’s not enough dog content on LinkedIn these days. 2. Dogs get a lot of likes and we’re trying to fluff our numbers for our mid-year review. 3.We wanted to shout about the fact that at innocent, we try to let our people do good and have a little bit of freedom to go after the things they’re passionate about.*   Oh, and we also want you to head down to this link, click apply if you see a role that's right for you, and then start an office scrabble society. (https://lnkd.in/gfeMW-v)   *Within reason. We got a bit stricter after what happened with Karina and the office indoor ski club.