Richard Reed bursts through the pub door running. In his arms he cradles a large box of Innocent’s latest product.

“Sorry, I hate people who are late,” he pants, throwing his biker jacket on the bench and catching his breath. He is slight and stubbled, wearing jeans and a dirty T-shirt. He could be any young bloke out for a pint.

But he’s not. Yorkshire-born Reed, 35, is a charismatic entrepreneur who heads Innocent, a nine-year-old company so successful that his stake alone may be worth £200m. And the better his business does, the scruffier he becomes and the broader his drawl seems to get.

We meet at Reed’s local gastropub in Shepherd’s Bush, west London. It’s round the corner from Innocent’s base, the quirkily named Fruit Towers — in reality, part of a trading estate. Never underestimate the Innocent boys’ commercial tightness.

Reed and his partners — Adam Balon and Jon Wright — like to surprise. They met at university and chucked in good jobs to set up Innocent, making smoothies (pulped-fruit drinks with no additives) from top-notch ingredients, offering a healthy product at a premium price, leavened by a slice of profits going to eco-causes. They also invented a distinctive, funky-folksy packaging style, now much imitated everywhere.

More importantly, they have rapidly built a formidable brand, loved and trusted by many — 130,000 sign up for weekly Innocent e-mails, 45,000 go to the company’s annual Fruitstock pop festival in London’s Regent’s Park. That, and the smoothie sector’s rapid growth, means that their business is worth far more than its current £113m turnover suggests.

Coca-Cola paid J Darius Bikoff £2 billion for his Vitaminwater-branded business in America last year. Its turnover then was £175m. Reed, Balon and Wright share 70% of Innocent. Do the sums.

“Yeah, we have,” laughs Reed, knocking back a red wine. Then he pulls himself up. Seriously, he adds, he and his partners have no intention of cashing out. They have plans. Reed opens the box he has brought along and pulls out four 400g pots. It’s another surprise.

“Innocent Veg Pots,” he says, then he reads me the labels. “Moroccan squash tagine with giant couscous and fresh coriander; Thai coconut curry with soya beans, pak choi and wild rice; Tuscan bean stew with tomatoes, kale and fresh parsley; pea and broccoli rice with spinach crème fraiche and mint.”

In other words, gourmet-vegetarian readymeals, low salt, high fibre, additive-free, aimed at the broadest possible audience, easy to heat up in microwave or pan. They cost £3.49 and went on sale in Waitrose last week, and will be in other supermarkets from October. Innocent is moving into food.

But why? At a time when the company is under attack from American giant Pepsi — owner of the Tropicana, PJ’s and Copella juice brands — and facing an economic downturn, surely it should stick to what it knows best?

Not really, says Reed. “We never said we would just be about fruit.” In fact two years ago they decided to broaden from drinks into food. They just didn’t tell anyone.