innocent drinks

It's Autumn and that means one thing. Getting comfy with a cup of tea and pretending to do some work while reading our latest Q&A.   This month we've got one of the brilliant minds and taste buds behind some of your favourite smoothies, our Rachel. So good at her job that when life gives her lemons, she adds apples, pears and a couple cucumbers and calls it a job well done.   When she's not working her smoothie-making magic, she's inspiring her team, or co-leading our run club, Kensal Strides. Check out life at innocent in the article below. It might be one of your recipes that we'll be picking out the fridge next year. 

We're chuffed to say the Big Knit is coming back in 2025. We'll be donating 30p to Age UK for every bottle we sell that has a little hat on it. Since 2003, we've raised £3.2 million for Age UK who help offer support for older people who need it the most. But before we can pop lots of little hats on our smoothie bottles, we actually need little hats to pop on smoothie bottles. 1.4 million to be exact. We know. No biggie at all. So, if you're a knitter, crocheter, or someone with no creative talents at all, we're calling you to knit some little hats and send them to us in Fruit Towers. If you don't know how to knit a hat, or fancy learning how to knit a pineapple instead, you can find all the details on where to start here: https://lnkd.in/edYaF-J6.

At innocent, we’re all about fruit and veg. But we know lots of people still aren’t getting their 5-a-day. So, this morning, we teamed up with our friends at UKHarvest to host a breakfast roundtable at their Nourish Hub, getting down to the core of increasing accessibility to fruit & veg. We chatted about the big barriers, shone a light on some inspiring initiatives, and explored how we can all learn from the amazing work happening across the country. We’ll help share the brilliant insights and solutions from this group soon, so keep your eyes peeled. A shout out to our speakers Ffion Hayward Amy Deptford Megan Blake Karina O'Gorman (she/her) Louisa Handley, RNutr (AfN) and to Rupy Aujla for chairing. And to all the experts who joined us, thank you. Alexandra Rose Charity Asda Barfoots of Botley Ltd Belazu | B Corp™ British Nutrition Foundation The Bread and Butter Thing Community Shop FareShare UK FEAST With Us Feeding Britain The Food Foundation Great British Apples & Pears Gavin Wren Hackney School of Food Hubbub IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution) Natoora Sainsbury's Southwark Council Professor Danielle McCarthy, PhD, RNutr The Chichester Food & Drink Company #downtothecore 

2 months ago we celebrated Parent's Day.   And we were chuffed when you lovely lot, and the people at Marketing Week agreed that having an equal parental leave policy was a win-win for everyone involved.   We also asked them to write about our Nina. Last week, she set the company record for the most juice drank while hula hooping on a chair. They said no. We think that's fair enough.   If you want to read some more important stuff from our Sophie, then check out the article below. If you missed our original post, we've left a link to that too.   https://lnkd.in/eMDN-vwe

Turns out working in HR is just as fun as it sounds. Who'd have thought.   Our Mayuri works hard to bring great people to Fruit Towers, our London home.   Have a look at what she gets up to in the video, and let her know your thoughts on a cream cheese and Sriracha crumpet combo in the comments.

THREE THINGS WE ALL WANT TO SKIP:   The line at Alton Towers.   A perfectly round pebble at the seafront.   The interview for our dream job.   Everyone's different, and for some (probably most) people interviews can cause a bit of stress and anxiety.   And while we love true crime dramas as much as anyone, we don't fancy interrogating you lot. So it's every interviewer's job to make people's lives a little easier.   The small things have a big impact. So one small change we've made is to give everyone sensory toys to fidget with in interviews. So you can focus more on the answers, and less on the being nervous bit.   We also give people the chance to speak to members of our affinity groups to ask about the things that matter to them. That could be our parental policy, culture, or what snacks our Maisie puts in the snack cupboard. It's up to you, and always top-secret.   The majority of our case studies are sent ahead of time too. We'd rather leave surprises for your birthday, and make sure you have plenty of time to prepare for your assessment. Much like you would on the job.   Like we said, it’s the little things. But when you interview with us, we want it to be a two-way street, so if there's any reasonable adjustments you need then let your Talent Partner know. After all, an interview is just a chance to shout about how great you are.   As a bonus, have a look below and see if there's any sensory toys that look a little out of place.

WE WENT TO THE BEACH (and it chucked it down) Thinking we were in for a scorcher, we headed to Brighton beach for the bank holiday weekend, in our grassy van. The plan was to hand out over 1000 portions of fruit and veg to beach-goers as they basked in the sun. We did some research and found that there was a significant concern amongst families about the lack of convenient and affordable healthy food options at the seaside. Over a third (37%) of parents indicated they would choose other destinations over the beach due to this issue, and 44% expressed worry about not getting their 5-a-day during outings. Knowing people wanted a healthy balance when on a day out, and given we are passionate about getting more fruit and veg to people, and in a bid to bright’un up the beach, we filled up the grassy van with juices and smoothies and even turned some of our fave recipes into fruit cones. In true British bank holiday style, the sun didn’t come out, but the people did. And we gave them 1 of their 5-a-day. We also roped in our mate Chris Bavin, tv presenter and fruit and veg lover. Here’s some pics of us looking abit soggy. And for anyone who saw, laughed and took photos whilst waving at our Louisa Handley, RNutr (AfN) and Sameera Yasmeen in the van, on the M23, you are legends.           

WE SPILT SOME TEA   A couple of weeks ago we opened our doors up to the lovely guys over at The Marketing Meetup to talk about all things social media. It was a really good chat. So good, our Anni Mueller and Ellie Keon ended up talking about pigeons. Because when it comes to explaining a really in-depth, well thought-out social media strategy that's been carefully built over many years, pigeons are the way to do it. Who'd have thought.   If you fancy learning more about why we post all sorts of nonsense on here, you can give it a watch here: https://lnkd.in/esJb_ijn

In the limelight this month, our Werdah.   Someone so passionate about living well, she's co-founded a triathlon charity to help others do the same.   Now we're no couch potatoes, but the only triathlons we can finish have a starter, main, and dessert. Which is why we're extra proud of Werdah in getting to run across France with a certain flame in her hand. It's a pretty big deal if you ask us.     If you want to know more about how she got there, her role at innocent, and top tips for carrying open flames, then have a read down below:

Some people say money makes the world go around. We might say it's fruit and veg. But most people would agree that parents deserve a mention too.   Well, it was Parent's Day yesterday. So we thought we'd shout about all the great work our wonderful PEARent's and Carer's Affinity Group have done. All to make sure that parents at innocent get the best deal possible and focus on what really matters. Mushing veg, changing nappies, and learning all about Peppa.   Here's a big one. We have one approach for any parent to be, you can take up to 52 weeks to look after your child, with the first 16 weeks of that fully paid. And unlike the governmental policy, we're not asking anyone to share leave or pay. So both parents can be there for those first few baby steps.   We know that having children isn't a one size fits all for everyone. That's why we offer 8 days of leave for every fertility treatment cycle. With surrogacy and adoption leave too.   But the last thing on any expecting parent's mind should be paperwork. So we've created a few handy guides for our people to use on top parenting tips, the parental leave process, and a guide for our managers.   And when you've been away for a while, it can feel a little scary coming back. So all our parents are encouraged to take a staggered approach back to work, where you do 80% of your work in the first two weeks, and 90% in the two weeks after that. All at full pay.   Our returning parents are introduced back in our company updates, get assigned a buddy, and can rely on the support of the PEARent's group to share all the ups and downs of being a new parent.   Even as they grow up, parenting doesn't slow down. So a lot of parents at innocent like to flex their working hours around school pick-ups and drop-offs, as well as all those important school plays, sports days, and the days when they're feeling under the weather.   So thank you to all parents, and to our PEARents and Carers group for making the lives of parents at innocent that little bit easier. And have a look down below for a cure to any Monday blues.