Endorsements from Business Entrepreneurs

Richard Reed

Richard Reed, John Wright and Adam Balon, three friends from Cambridge University were on holiday discussing when they had last eaten anything healthy and realised it was only when they went home to their mother's for Sunday lunch. So they looked into the market and spotted a niche for 100% fresh fruit smoothies that would make it easy for busy young people to do themselves some good.

To test the idea they set-up a stall selling their home-made smoothies at a music festival in August 1998 and put up a sign asking if they should give up their jobs to make the drinks. They asked their customers to throw the empty glasses into bins with 'yes' and 'no' written on, to answer the question. At the end of the weekend the 'yes' bin was so full they handed in their notice. Innocent Drinks, the first company in the UK to produce 100% pure fruit smoothies was launched in May 1999.

By 2002 the company had a turnover of £7 million

and is now one of the fastest-growing food and

drinks companies in the UK.

Visit the very innovative, informative (and amusing)

Innocent Drinks website www.innocentdrinks.co.uk.

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