All natural goodness. (Innocent Smoothies)

Member Name: Holidaying

Product:	Innocent Smoothies
Date:	05/05/09 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious, healthy.

Disadvantages: Marketing madness, expensive.

Innocent smoothies are a healthy alternative drink to buy when you're confronted with coca cola, sprite and the like. I love these drinks and buy them on occasion despite the high price.

The drinks are available in different sized bottles. If you want to drink them at home it is probably best to get a large carton which is one litre, but if you need a quick drink then I would suggest one of the smaller bottles, such as those pictured above, which are 250ml.

The drinks are available in a variety of places, and I have seen them in petrol stations, newsagents and supermarkets. As I said in the introduction, they are expensive. The larger cartons are usually £3.00 each but at the moment, and several times in the past, there is an offer in Sainsbury's where you can get two cartons for £4.00. I think this is a good offer and makes the smoothies seem more comparable in price to other similar drinks. It also means they are not that much more than buying two large bottles of coca cola (although admittedly you get more with carbonated drinks).

The packaging is quite simple and the Innocent brand is recognizable on all of the packaging. One difference between the bottles and the cartons is that on the cartons you can't see what is inside, and I like to be able to se what is inside so I prefer the style of the bottles. I think the character with the halo is taking the brand a bit too far. They do go a long way to make sure people know that there is nothing unnatural in their products. The fact that they are so good for you is great (and the only ingredients are fruits, it's true) but I do get fed up of their marketing.

They have some really nice flavours and some of the fruits used are unusual. For example, one of my favourite flavours is the blackberry, raspberry and boysenberry one. I didn't no what a boysenberry was, but I found out that it's related to raspberries and blackberries. I would never have tried anything like this before so these smoothies have introduced me to some different fruits. The flavour is delicious and I recommend it!

The smoothies are very thick but they are the right consistency to be poured from a carton or drunk from the bottle. I like the fact that I can taste all of the different flavours in the smoothies and I think most of the flavours have a good balance. They have a natural sweetness and I think people who reject 'healthy foods' on grounds of taste would be surprised at how tasty fruits can be. If you are one of those people I really encourage you to try these.

The smoothies have tiny bits in which I know is not to everyone's taste but it adds to the thickness and also makes them even healthier, because of the fibre content.

One 250ml serving or bottle of Innocent smoothies gives you two of your five a day, and most of them have about one fifth of your daily fibre. This is a lot for a small serving so it is an easy way to get some fruit and fibre in to your diet.

I thoroughly recommend these healthy, delicious drinks. They're expensive but to me they're worth it, even as an occasional drink when they're on offer. Don't be put off by the marketing, just try them!

Summary: Recommended.