4 ms·

Overpriced processed juice. Only reason this company is still alive is because it's owned by the Coca-Cola company. Try to do the same and watch your company g

Overpriced processed juice. Only reason this company is still alive is because it's owned by the Coca-Cola company. Try to do the same and watch your company go bankrupt within 2 months.

mseebach 14y ago
They launched in 1999 and sold the first stake to Coca-Cola in 2009. They somehow managed to scrape by for 120 months with no Coca-Cola ownership. Start-ups can't have an exit after 10 years?
- gav 14y ago
  The soft drink market is tough, you are fighting against two huge incumbents with a lot of power and money. Being purchased be one of them after you achieve a certain level of (local) success is one of the few options for a successful exit. I've worked with a small soda company that folded after a dozen years. The incumbents did everything from buy their space out from their retailers to scoring a monopoly with towns for public areas and schools. Selling low-margin (often with seasonal swings) products that have to be kept cool, with a limited shelf-life, and overcoming the retail and distribution hurdles is an achievement.
  - mseebach 14y ago
    I'm sure it's a tough and dirty business to be in - but the GP is still completely wrong when they suggest that Innocent somehow benefits unfairly from being part of Coca-Cola when, in fact, they weren't for the first ten years of their life.
TheAnimus 14y ago
I don't think that's really fair. They knew the advertising business, identified a target demographic and created a product with an image that appealed to them. I remember back in 2003, they where visiting most universities which where campus kind, with a van decked out in astroturf. The obvious hypocrisy of their brand and message were plane staring you in the face. Take an old in-efficent desiel van, deck it in plastic stuff which looks like grass and you've a product. It was almost emotive, and whilst it didn't appeal to me, they obviously really understood their target. As such to dismiss it as overpriced juice, is akin to Balmer dismissing the iPhone as overpriced.

Overpriced processed juice. Only reason this company is still alive is because it's owned by the Coca-Cola company. Try to do the same and watch your company go bankrupt within 2 months.

mseebach 14y ago

They launched in 1999 and sold the first stake to Coca-Cola in 2009. They somehow managed to scrape by for 120 months with no Coca-Cola ownership. Start-ups can't have an exit after 10 years?

gav 14y ago
The soft drink market is tough, you are fighting against two huge incumbents with a lot of power and money. Being purchased be one of them after you achieve a certain level of (local) success is one of the few options for a successful exit. I've worked with a small soda company that folded after a dozen years. The incumbents did everything from buy their space out from their retailers to scoring a monopoly with towns for public areas and schools. Selling low-margin (often with seasonal swings) products that have to be kept cool, with a limited shelf-life, and overcoming the retail and distribution hurdles is an achievement.
- mseebach 14y ago
  I'm sure it's a tough and dirty business to be in - but the GP is still completely wrong when they suggest that Innocent somehow benefits unfairly from being part of Coca-Cola when, in fact, they weren't for the first ten years of their life.

TheAnimus 14y ago

I don't think that's really fair. They knew the advertising business, identified a target demographic and created a product with an image that appealed to them. I remember back in 2003, they where visiting most universities which where campus kind, with a van decked out in astroturf. The obvious hypocrisy of their brand and message were plane staring you in the face. Take an old in-efficent desiel van, deck it in plastic stuff which looks like grass and you've a product. It was almost emotive, and whilst it didn't appeal to me, they obviously really understood their target. As such to dismiss it as overpriced juice, is akin to Balmer dismissing the iPhone as overpriced.