Innocent Drinks — Learning the Hard Way
I was fortunate to listen to Emilie Stephenson, Head of Force for Good at Innocent Drinks, this week. Ms Stephenson participated in a webinar hosted by edie.com titled the Anti-Greenwash Hour. It is not often a company bares its soul as much as Innocent Drinks did when Ms Stephenson shared the trials and tribulations of sustainable packaging.
Much has been written about the TV advertisement Little Drinks, Big Dreams, banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority in 2022 after activists claimed it was misleading. Kirsty Hunter, Innocent's marketing director, said when the ad launched, the company hoped the message would turn consumers into "recycling activists." However, campaigners have argued it is misleading to suggest that purchasing single-use plastic can save the planet.
This week's webinar starts with Ms Stephenson introducing the Innocent Drinks eco bottle, made from PLA (classified as 100% biobased plastic and derived from renewable resources such as maize, sugar cane or corn).
Almost immediately after launching the new PLA bottle, Innocent Drinks encountered difficulties from the packaging industry. Innocent Drink blog post, dated 30 October 2007, writes, "Having looked at all the pros and cons, and talked to industry experts, we think that for our bottles it's better to stick to working with waste material (i.e. recycled plastic), rather than creating bottles from new materials (even though they are made from renewable resources).
It's true that the UK isn't quite ready for PLA. Lots of people don't have compost heaps yet…But the recycling industry is now reporting that they are finding it hard to cope with PLA."
The blog post ends with this comment by Innocent Drinks, "All we'd really like to say to you is that we'd like to keep being allowed to try new things out. And when we do, we'd love it if you could tell us whether you think it's the right thing to do. We work hard to make decisions we are all proud of, but together we can do this better." Most consumers who commented on the blog post were supportive of Innocent’s sustainable packaging attempts. One consumer stated, "Well, we've all just got to do our best, haven't we? It's tough to make the exact right choices all the time. At least you're trying, which is certainly more than can be said for a lot (or even most?) of other companies. You're still my No. 1 ethical company."
The webinar was honest and authentic. I have not been following Innocent Drinks, but on the surface, this aura of authenticness seems to be part of the company culture. More importantly, sustainable packaging is proving to be a huge learning curve. Given that most companies will make similar mistakes, perhaps it is best to focus on the brand's values that will guide a company through turbulent times, as experienced by Innocent Drinks, rather than the products a company sells.
Website: Innocent Drinks
To watch the webinar, visit: The Sustainability Reporting and Communications Sessions — you will need to create an account, and Ms Stephenson begins her talk around the 1 hour:05 minute mark.
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