The new products are designed to taste like strawberry cupcakes, blueberry muffin, and lemon pie; and are all free from added sugar, artificial sweeteners and flavourings, along with being a source of fibre and vitamin C.
This latest trio – along with Innocent’s entire portfolio – is built on the foundations created by Innocent’s founders 27 years ago: ‘Making it easier for people to live well through delicious goodness and fruit and veg.’
As such the ‘dessert’ smoothies contain at least one portion of fruit, counting towards ‘one of your five-a-day’.
During an exclusive first look held at ‘Fruit Towers’ – Innocent’s London headquarters – earlier this month, the R&D team reiterated the importance of this ethos in its NPD process.
“Every single one of these products that we make – or are going to make in the future – have to ladder back up to our purpose,” the team told Food Manufacture.
“Today, intake of fruit and veg is worse than it’s ever been. One in five adults and one in ten children still aren’t getting enough fruit and veg. I’m not sure it’s going to get any better – but we genuinely want our smoothies and juices to be a way for people to get an extra portion into their diets.
“We obviously want people to eat whole fruit and veg, but it’s [the smoothies] a really great way to get vitamins, get minerals, get fibre, and get all the benefits that come with eating fruit and veg.”
The hope is that the dessert-inspired smoothies will help encourage healthy eating through not just their contents but their versatility, with the team at Fruit Towers demonstrating how the smoothies can not only be drunk from the bottle in a traditional fashion, but used to create sorbets, overnight oats, and ice lollies.
The products tap into the sustained demand for ‘little treats’ – the act of making small purchases on premium items that are spontaneous and emotionally driven. This so-called ‘little treat culture’ which is particularly popular among Gen Z and Millennials reflects a need for control and comfort in periods of extreme volatility where other ‘bigger’ ambitions feel unattainable.
The team believe the products to have a wide appeal, but lean more towards a younger demographic, with the smaller 250ml format having the potential to sit in the meal-deal range, and larger 750ml to be shared among families.
The new trio are dairy-free, with the fruit blended with coconut milk to create a ‘creamy’ texture whilst being plant-based.
The products landed on Tesco shelves today and have a RRP of £2.20 for 250ml and £4 for 750ml. A wider supermarket presence will follow from September, including in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, and Ocado.
