28th February 2008
This week we bring you a special invite, designers of the future, a magazine all about rubber and an extra free day. Don’t say we’re not good to you.
A Grownup Meeting
We’ll be 9 years old on 26th April, so we thought it was time to look sharp, smarten up and hold a proper AGM here. At Fruit Towers in London. But there won’t be any suits, boring reports or charts about increasing distribution at this meeting. Instead, you’ll get a chance to tell us what you think, vote on some new products and nose round our grassy office. Ideally, we’d love every one of you to be part of it but we just don’t have enough chairs so we’re going to have a ballot instead. That way, anyone who fancies coming along can give us their name and say why they’d be a jolly sort to have along on the day. Get involved here (this link was available to innocent family members only).
The ballot closes on 14th March and we’ll be announcing the lucky winners on 26th March. We’ll be posting loads about it on the AGM bit of our website.
Designers of the future
You might remember we ran a competition before Christmas to design our kids packaging this summer. We had loads of brilliant entries and are very pleased to announce the winners and runners up here.
Thanks to everyone who entered, to Lauren Childs for being our celebrity judge and look out for these winning designs on shelf near you this summer.
Plastic fantastic
Fame and acclaim this week for our Niels in Holland, who featured in the Dutch publication, Rubber and Plastic. Before you start firing off those emails about explicit content, it’s a magazine for the packaging industry and everyone who’s anyone in the world of Dutch packaging reads it. Niels was being interviewed about being Number 1 in packaging and rubber. Sadly this was not actually about Niels himself but our 100% recycled bottle. Niels did get the chance to tell the readers all about his favourite rubber objects though, which according to the article, are his yellow rubber duck Freda and his mousemat. Sure, Niels. Whatever.
Extra day free
Up to anything nice this Friday? Seeing as 29th February only comes round once every 4 years, it’d be a shame not to make the most of this extra day. In case you’re still thinking about what to do, here’s a few suggestions to get you started:
Gav: Watching Hot Chip. 9pm – 3am. Oh yes.
Abi: Asking my boyfriend to marry me (don’t tell him, it’s a
surprise).
Jonathan: Impersonating MC Hammer.
Ben W: Lazing about by the old swimming hole, sipping milkshake
and wearing slacks fashioned from bullrushes.
Erica: Eating and shopping for England (because calories and
bank balances don’t count in a leap year).
If you’ve got a better idea how to spend those extra 24 hours of 2008, then post it here and the best suggestion will get a wheelbarrow of free smoothies.
20th February 2008
After all the excitement and romance of last week, this week's news is back down to earth with a bump, albeit an award-shaped one. That's swiftly followed by another bump, in the shape of a nice bottom, and then something about a man called Ruvan. Tempted? Best read on.
Getting to the bottom of things
A little while ago, we asked for your help in coming up with some new messages on the bottom of our bottles. We've had pretty much the same little messages there for a while now, and we needed a bit of a bottom overhaul, so to speak. But we were staggered at the amount of help you gave us – before we could even say 'magic knickers', your suggestions had started pouring in. Originally, we were only going to pick three winners, but were so bowled over with the high standard of entries, that we've ended up picking seven. In other words, you did all the work, while we drank tea and laughed at your bum jokes. You can see the lucky folk and their winning entries here.
And the gong goes to...
It’s award season and what with the BAFTAS, Grammy's and Oscars all over the news, here’s a quick award update from the glitzy world of fruit based beverages.
Last week, our mangoes and passion fruits recipe picked up the "Soft Drink of the Year" award at The Grocer's Branded Excellence Awards. The Grocer is a weekly magazine which reports on the all goings on in the world of food and drink retail. Sort of like Heat but without cellulite and small handbags with dogs in them. It was a glamorous affair and the glory is due to the hard work our Lucy carried out, in making an old faithful recipe taste even better in 2007. A proud accolade indeed and not a weepy acceptance speech in sight.
Morris Dancing Crisis
We like fetes and had such a rip roaring time at our own last August. Now, along with dog agility skills and duck herding, a fete wouldn't be a fete without a spot of Morris dancing. But this traditional pastime is in danger of becoming a thing of the past due to a dwindling number of dancers. Numbers have reached an all time low and an advertising campaign has been launched to try and drum up some new hanky waving blood. We're sure there must be some budding dancers out there, so for the sake of preserving this excellent tradition, click here to get involved
And if you know about anything about a dance involving blindfolded Morris dancers juggling eggs, please drop us a comment as Ceri who works here insists that such a thing exists and is slightly miffed that no one believes her.
A man called Ruvan
Last but not least, please say hello to Ruvan. Ruvan started working here on Monday and was once held hostage by a local Maoist group in Nepal. But he got away.
And finally...
13th February 2008
Celebrity gossip, packaging revelations, spurned love and a challenge worthy of Gordon Burns himself. It’s all here in this week’s news. Get involved (available in all good inboxes everywhere).
Love story
For those of you who have been wondering why there was so much heart shaped paraphernalia floating about in the shops, we can let you in on a secret. It’s Valentine’s Day. In case your doormat is looking a little naked, here’s a no expenses spared photo story to warm the cockles of your heart, and any other becockled organs.
Bingo
You might remember a few weeks ago that we told you all about our 100% recycled plastic bottle. Well, we’re still excited about it. So excited in fact, that for the next few weeks all of our labels will feature a special green recycling dude to celebrate our world first.
To share in this celebration, we’ll be awarding a smart recycled prize to the first person to take a photo of a tidy, winning line of these bottles on a shop shelf and upload it to this special flickr group. There will also be a prize for the photo of the person doing the most imaginative eco friendly thing with one of these special bottles too. Keep it clean mind.
George Baker
Exciting celebrity news from our Dutch vrienden in Holland this week when the whole team met one of their heroes – the legend that is George Baker. Whenever you call the bananaphone in Holland and request a song, you will get Una Paloma Blanca by George Baker sung back to you. Back in ’75, this song rocked the charts for an incredible 42 weeks. Last week, George came back to rock Amsterdam and our man about town, Niels, used his great contacts to wangle a meet and greet with said legend after the show.
The beard may have gone but George still has the moves and can belt out a cracking rendition of Little Green Bag. Plus he was an excellent sport. If you can’t make his latest tour dates in Europe, then please take a moment to relive his magic right here.
Challenge innocent
Two chaps, 3 countries, 1 day. Their mission? To do the same thing in each country. That thing? To drink an innocent smoothie.
Despite rain, wind and lots of walking, a world record has been set. These men are the first two people in history to drink three of our smoothies in three different countries using three different currencies within 17 hours.
But seeing as we sell our drinks in 9 different European countries, we’re throwing down the gauntlet to beat this current record. If you manage to out-drink these fair knights, then let us know and we will update the world record status accordingly. Proof of purchase, photographs in front of famous landmarks and passport stamps are compulsory.
And finally...
6th February 2008
This week’s news is brought to you by multidimensional fruit, a New York style tableau and the usual collection of general ramblings. Hope you enjoy it.
Intergalactic fruit
In a parallel universe, pomegranates are not for eating. They are for wearing. Right now, in a galaxy far, far away, this coveted fruit is gracing the necklines and earlobes of the rich and famous. Those little red jewels that you call pips (but are actually called jewels in both dimensions) are strung together to make pomegranate necklaces, earrings and cufflinks. To have pomegranate juice stains on your posh frock is regarded as the height of sophistication and style.
Unfortunately, pomegranates are never entirely sure which galaxy they're in. So to keep them on the straight and narrow, we've mixed them with the humble raspberry. Small, hairy and right at home in this reality, they help the pomegranates in our new smoothie of the month taste out of this world.
So now, if you spill some down your top, just mention that it's all the rage in a parallel universe.
Our man in Malawi
Last year our Helen went off to India with the innocent foundation to work on one of the projects we support there. This year, it’s the turn of Scotland’s finest, Andrew D. In April, he’s heading off to Malawi to work on a different project, this time with the Microloan Foundation. They provide small business loans (or microloans), basic business training and ongoing support to groups of women in sub Saharan Africa to help them develop sustainable livelihoods for themselves and their families. It’s a simple yet brilliant concept. We’ll keep you posted on Andrew’s progress once he’s there. For now, any tips on how to keep mosquitoes at bay and avoid looking like a lobster would be much appreciated, him being a slightly pale Scottish chap and all.
Retailer of the Month
Next to you, our mums and John Craven, our stockists are the most important people in the world to us. So we’d like to introduce you to a few of them. This week, it’s the turn of Nett and Guy who run The Orchard Café at the Countryside Centre in Worcester. They couldn’t find anywhere to take their kids for some wholesome, tasty nosh and a bit of a run-around, so they decided to set up a place that did just that. All their food is locally sourced and homemade, there’s a bird watching area inside the cafe and plenty of good places to go for a walk. Plus you can buy your dog a biscuit for 20p a pop. They’re just off J7 on the M5 so make sure you call in for a cup of tea and canine treat next time you’re passing.
New things
Since this is a letter all about news, we thought there should be a section dedicated to new things every now and then. So first up is the tinned cheeseburger. To prepare, simply boil said tin in a pan of water for 10 minutes and serve with a salad garnish and can opener.
Also new to the world of shiny new things is the chocolate powered car. Not only does it run on waste chocolate, it is also carbon neutral and can take you all the way to Timbuktu and back. Your Milky Way will never seem the same again.
If you come across any new stuff you’d like to share, please email it to us at hello@innocentdrinks.co.uk with 'sliced bread' in the title and we’ll add it to the next thrilling instalment of ‘New things’.
And finally...
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