Innocent Drinks is targeting export sales growth of more than 200% over the next five years - starting with its third foray into the Swedish market.

Europe MD Giles Carter said the juices and smoothie business could more than treble sales outside the UK and Ireland from its projected year end figure for 2014 of €80m to €250m by 2019, with Innocent’s launch in Sweden showing “encouraging early signs”.

“Our current export sales have doubled over the past two years,” said Carter, with Innocent operating in 10 countries and in seven languages.

“We are now getting to a scale in many overseas markets where we are interesting retailers in terms of what we can do to drive customers into their stores,” he claimed.

Carter also revealed that Innocent were currently in the early stages of discussions about how to take the brand into new markets such as Asia and Latin America.

The Coca Cola-owned brand was relaunched in Sweden earlier this month for the third time, and has secured listings with retailers ICA, Coop, Axfood and Bergendahls, which together represent around 95% of Sweden’s grocery sector, said Carter.

“Despite having a population of just 10m, Sweden is Europe’s third largest chilled juice market behind the UK and France,” he added.

Innocent has teamed up with Arla-owned chilled drinks business Rynkeby for its latest attack on the Swedish market, and had learnt from its failed approaches in 2008 and 2011.

“We initially just replicated our UK model, but with the prevalence of independently-owned stores in this market we realised the importance of a field sales operation, and we didn’t invest enough in the brand,” Carter said.

By 2009 Innocent had been forced to pull its operation out of Sweden, and back to Denmark, while a second attempt in 2011 also proved unsuccessful due to a distribution partnership with an ambient specialist which “didn’t work”.

“This time round, Rynkeby is the perfect partner,” said Carter.

“We have had to invest like a traditional fmcg brand and have ­created a TV commercial, ­accompanied by PR and sampling.

“Even the jokes on ­bottles have changed to reflect the Swedish sense of humour.”

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