Innocent is a well-known drinks brand, recognised for its smoothies, juices and, more recently, coconut water and dairy-free alternatives. The question “who owns Innocent” refers to both the legal ownership of the company and its position within a larger corporate group. Innocent Drinks began as a small independent business but is now part of one of the world’s largest beverage groups, The Coca‑Cola Company.
Innocent was founded in 1999 in the United Kingdom by three university friends: Adam Balon, Richard Reed and Jon Wright. They started by selling fruit smoothies at a music festival in London and, following early success, grew the business into a leading chilled drinks brand in the UK and across Europe. For several years, the founders retained majority control, with the company operating independently and marketing itself strongly around natural ingredients and ethical sourcing.
Ownership of Innocent began to change in 2009, when The Coca‑Cola Company made its first investment in the business. According to Coca‑Cola’s own disclosures, it acquired an initial minority stake of around 18% in Innocent to support the brand’s growth in the European market. This investment gave Innocent access to greater resources and distribution, while the founding team continued to run day-to-day operations. Coca‑Cola increased its holding over time, and by 2013 it had acquired full control of Innocent, taking its shareholding to 100%. This is confirmed by The Coca‑Cola Company’s corporate information on its brands, which lists Innocent as a wholly owned subsidiary within its portfolio of juices, dairy and plant-based drinks, specifically under the Coca‑Cola HBC and Coca‑Cola Europe operations for distribution in relevant markets. Details of this acquisition and the step-by-step increase in shareholding are outlined in business news coverage and in Coca‑Cola’s own brand overviews on its official websites and annual reports, such as the brand information published by The Coca‑Cola Company at coca-colacompany.com and regional bottler sites like Coca‑Cola HBC’s brand portfolio pages.
In the UK, Innocent’s main trading entity is Innocent Limited. Public records from Companies House, the official registrar of companies in the UK, confirm Innocent Limited as an active private company limited by shares. Companies House filings show that Innocent Limited is ultimately controlled by The Coca‑Cola Company through a chain of intermediate holding companies registered in the UK and other jurisdictions. The “persons with significant control” and group structure sections of those filings indicate that Innocent is part of the wider Coca‑Cola corporate group rather than an independent owner‑managed business. These filings also record the company’s registered office in London and list its directors, who are largely senior managers and executives connected to Coca‑Cola’s European operations. Anyone wishing to verify this can search the Companies House service for “Innocent Limited” and review the latest confirmation statements and group structure documents available on the official gov.uk/company-information site.
Innocent operates primarily in the UK and across Europe, and its brand presence is strongest in the UK, Ireland and several EU countries. The company markets itself as producing smoothies, juices and other drinks made from fruit and plant-based ingredients, with a strong emphasis on sustainability, charitable giving and environmental initiatives. Its own website, available via the official Innocent Drinks domain, outlines its mission, product ranges and social responsibility work. There, the company describes itself as part of The Coca‑Cola Company family, making clear that ownership now rests with the global soft drinks group, even though Innocent maintains its distinct brand identity, tone of voice and product development. The official Innocent site also provides details on its European offices and sustainability projects, which are aligned with Coca‑Cola’s wider environmental and packaging goals published on Coca‑Cola’s corporate responsibility pages.
In terms of who owns Innocent today, the answer is that Innocent is wholly owned by The Coca‑Cola Company through its European business units. The original founders no longer control the company, having sold their remaining shares during Coca‑Cola’s staged buyout completed around 2013. Public business articles and Coca‑Cola’s own historical notes about the brand indicate that, after full acquisition, the founders moved on to other ventures while Innocent continued to be managed by a professional leadership team under Coca‑Cola’s oversight. The Coca‑Cola Company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker KO, is itself owned by a large number of institutional and individual shareholders worldwide, as disclosed in its investor relations materials. This means that Innocent’s ultimate ownership is dispersed among Coca‑Cola’s shareholders, although strategic control is exercised by Coca‑Cola’s board and executive management as set out in its annual reports and governance documents on coca-colacompany.com.
From a UK legal perspective, ownership is documented via share registers and group structure filings at Companies House. Those documents show that Innocent Limited’s shares are held by parent entities that trace back to The Coca‑Cola Company. These filings also note changes over time in share capital and controlling interests, which align with the timeline of Coca‑Cola’s increasing investment reported in reputable business news outlets and industry analyses. For UK consumers or business partners asking “who owns Innocent,” the most authoritative confirmation comes from these official registers together with Coca‑Cola’s brand listings.
Outside the UK, Innocent products are distributed in several European and sometimes other international markets, primarily through Coca‑Cola’s regional bottling and distribution partners. For example, Coca‑Cola HBC, a major Coca‑Cola bottler serving parts of Europe, lists Innocent among the brands it handles in its product portfolio on the official Coca‑Cola HBC website. This reflects the integrated nature of Innocent’s current business model within the Coca‑Cola system, where brand ownership sits with The Coca‑Cola Company while regional bottlers manage production, logistics and local market execution. In certain markets, including South Africa, Innocent-branded products may not be as widely distributed as Coca‑Cola’s core brands, and local product availability is best checked via official Coca‑Cola regional or bottler websites and major supermarket chains’ product listings.
Regarding public contact information for ownership or corporate control questions, The Coca‑Cola Company provides global and regional contact channels on its corporate website, and Innocent’s own site includes general consumer and press contact forms. These channels are for customer service, media and business enquiries rather than ownership verification, which is instead supported by official registry data and corporate disclosures. Specific direct contact details for the ultimate owner, such as personal telephone numbers or email addresses for controlling shareholders, are not normally published by large public companies. For queries specifically about who owns Innocent, the official records at Companies House in the UK and The Coca‑Cola Company’s published brand and investor information remain the primary points of reference. No public contact details found for direct communication with the individuals or entities that are the ultimate beneficial owners behind The Coca‑Cola Company’s widely held shares.
In summary, the answer to “who owns Innocent” is that Innocent is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca‑Cola Company. Originally an independent UK start‑up created by three founders, Innocent moved into Coca‑Cola ownership through a staged acquisition process beginning in 2009 and concluding with full control by 2013. Today, this ownership is documented in the UK by Companies House records for Innocent Limited and confirmed by Coca‑Cola’s own corporate brand information, which together provide clear, verifiable evidence of Innocent’s place within the Coca‑Cola corporate group.
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