Innocent has promoted Paul Brown to commercial director of food in a bid to accelerate the brand's expansion beyond drinks.
Brown has been commercial controller of Innocent's debut food line, Veg Pots, since they launched three years ago, but he will now oversee development of all of its future food launches to meet the company's ambitious growth targets.
Sales of Innocent's Veg Pots jumped 40% to £16m in 2010 and Brown said he expected a series of new food launches beyond the Veg Pot range to boost the company's overall revenue to £20m. "Innocent's food offering will look significantly different by the year's end," said Brown, who takes up the newly created role immediately.
He joined Innocent in 1991 as northern business development manager, which involved him "driving a van around the north of England scoping out potential stockists."
Prior to that he was a qualified snowboard instructor working in the US. It was while he was in hospital following an accident on the slopes that he had taken an interest in the poor quality food that the people around him were eating, he said.
"That experience sparked my interest in healthy food and by the time I returned to the UK, Innocent was just getting off the ground and I knew it would be a huge success," he added.
Brown is in charge of a 15-strong food team at Innocent's head office, which is currently located in Hammersmith, London, but will be relocated to a bigger site in nearby Ladbroke Grove this spring.
Brown has been commercial controller of Innocent's debut food line, Veg Pots, since they launched three years ago, but he will now oversee development of all of its future food launches to meet the company's ambitious growth targets.
Sales of Innocent's Veg Pots jumped 40% to £16m in 2010 and Brown said he expected a series of new food launches beyond the Veg Pot range to boost the company's overall revenue to £20m. "Innocent's food offering will look significantly different by the year's end," said Brown, who takes up the newly created role immediately.
He joined Innocent in 1991 as northern business development manager, which involved him "driving a van around the north of England scoping out potential stockists."
Prior to that he was a qualified snowboard instructor working in the US. It was while he was in hospital following an accident on the slopes that he had taken an interest in the poor quality food that the people around him were eating, he said.
"That experience sparked my interest in healthy food and by the time I returned to the UK, Innocent was just getting off the ground and I knew it would be a huge success," he added.
Brown is in charge of a 15-strong food team at Innocent's head office, which is currently located in Hammersmith, London, but will be relocated to a bigger site in nearby Ladbroke Grove this spring.
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