If foods define decades (think prawn cocktail for the Seventies, balsamic vinegar for the Nineties), then the food of the Noughties is surely the smoothie. Of course, by smoothie, I mean the Innocent kind. The brainchild of three Cambridge graduates, Innocent was set up in 1999, and today has a 72 per cent share of the UK's £170m smoothie market, selling more than two million drinks a week. But Innocent's epoch-defining character is not just a question of numbers. Few products better reflect the times we live in, or tell us more about what we want our food to be.
Innocent's appeal lies in the fact that its smoothies, while seeming so simple (so innocent, in fact), manage to press all the right ethical and social buttons. First of all, there's health. From its name onwards, Innocent makes a great show of how 'natural' and 'pure' its smoothies are. And for once this seems justified, because they contain only fruit and fruit juices. But the 'purity' tag has a second dimension: ecological friendliness. Innocent smoothies are not only good for you; they are good for the world, too. Actually it's debatable how beneficial to the environment a company that ships fruit from all over the globe can be; but Innocent certainly goes out of its way to convince us that it cares passionately about the planet.
And this helps get round another problem. The biggest obstacle faced by ethical foods has always been their kooky, 'alternative' image. Now, thanks not only to Innocent but to the likes of Green & Black's and Cafédirect too, the ethical has become mainstream. Such brands are no longer confined to the health-food shop; you're just as likely to find them in the supermarket. Buying them reflects well on you as a person - if for no other reason than that it proves you have the money - but, crucially, it does not make you a snob.
Innocent was one of the first companies to cotton on to all this, and it has mined the potential of ethical consumerism more effectively than anyone else. In doing so, it has helped transform our understanding of what it means to be ethical, tying it up with notions such as aspiration and health. Unquestionably, the existence of Innocent smoothies has made us feel better about ourselves. But has it helped the planet? That's open to debate.
