University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Innocent
Book

Innocent

Our Story & Some Things We’ve Learned

Dan Germain
Michael Joseph, 2009
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable
  • Engaging

Recommendation

British childhood friends Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright sold their first 1,000 smoothies at a music festival in London. Today, their company, Innocent, sells smoothies in 15 countries across Europe, and the firm makes more than £200 million each year. At their company’s launch, Reed, Balon and Wright were three twentysomething buddies who wanted to make eating healthy easier for busy people. This bio of their smoothie enterprise is short, funny and useful, with hands-on business advice for budding entrepreneurs. getAbstract recommends this diverting book to current and future entrepreneurs looking to lose their innocence about launching a business.

Summary

Getting Started

Good friends Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright, all in their 20s, always worked long hours. Their diet consisted mainly of beer and pizza. Seeking a way to eat healthy food quickly, they considered smoothies – crushing real fruit into bottles busy people like them could drink on the go. Another company in the United Kingdom, Pete & Johnny (PJs), already offered this product – but their smoothies came from concentrated syrup and compromised on natural ingredients. Reed, Balon and Wright determined to make smoothies using fresh ingredients.

The three partners first sold their smoothies from a market stall at a West London event, Jazz on the Green. They made smoothies in their kitchen, but had to manufacture 1,000 bottles for the festival. They met Jeff, an 80-year-old farmer who grew (and loved) carrots and carrot juice. Jeff bragged that he could bring carrot juice from his farm in Nottinghamshire to London in less than six hours. Reed, Balon and Wright loved him. They bought £500 worth of produce from him for the festival, where they sold their first 1,000 smoothies.

They put two huge bins, one with a YES label...

About the Author

Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright started Innocent, which they sold to Coca-Cola in 2013. Reed wrote this book with Dan Germain, Innocent’s group head of brand.

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