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News and Opinion about the Cranberry Industry

Archives for April, 2002

John Swendrowski, and John decas, on volume regulations and the CMC
Marketing order as �insurance,� by Gregory Gitter, President, Wisconsin Cranberry Cooperative
2002 Cranberry Crop Forecasts and Related Grower Price Forecasts, by Ed Jesse, Ph.D.
 Obey, Kohl urge Wisconsin growers to let USDA know their views on production controls
BevNet rated all three Ocean Spray white cranberry juices D
DeMarco's attorneys file optional response to Ocean Spray reply

and more...

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John Swendrowski on volume regulations and the CMC

4/30/02 Northland Cranberry's CEO responds to John Decas and presents his analysis of the "real dilemma" with the Cranberry Marketing Committee. Here.

On volume regulations
by John Decas, Pres. Decas Cranberries

4/25/02 -- I tend to be against volume regulations because they cannot be administered fairly.  Volume regulations, particularly when they exceed 15%, dramatically effect the ability of a small handler to be a reliable source of supply to his customers and allows large handlers who created the surplus to conduct predatory practices against companies like mine. CONTINUED

 Marketing order as �insurance�
By Gregory Gitter, President, Wisconsin Cranberry Cooperative

4/24/02 -- The Wisconsin Cranberry Cooperative supports the efforts of Gene Miller, John Swendrowski and others in asking the USDA to implement  a marketing order that protects the individual growers from deteriorating pricing for the 2002 crop. CONTINUED

4/26/02 USDA Press Release:  Hearings set for Cranberry Marketing Order proposals

Unofficial Draft Copy of Notice of Hearing Available for Public Inspection on CMC Website

4/25/02 An "unofficial draft" of the locations and dates of hearings, along with the proposed amendments, was published today on the Cranberry Marketing Committee website. This is a long document which we have broken down into three pages for quicker loading, here.
Editor's Note

2002 Cranberry Crop Forecasts and Related Grower Price Forecasts
by Ed Jesse, Ph.D. →→

Cranberry growers seek production amount input

Protection against bumper crop looked for.

4/15/02: Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association will survey members. Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

Obey, Kohl urge Wisconsin growers to let USDA know their views on production controls:

Press Release

Northland News:

4/17/02 Northland Makes progress from Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

4/15/02 Northland grows tiny profit from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

4/15/02 Northland Press Release

Northland Quarterly Report

Editorial

Twisted Twisters

4/9/02 If you hurry you may still be able to buy a collector's bottle of Tropicana Twisters Orange Cranberry as there are a few bottles left on the shelf.... CONTINUED

DeMarco's attorneys file optional response to Ocean Spray reply

4/8/02 Garfield DeMarco's attorneys filed a brief on April 4, 2002 which responds to the arguments made in Ocean Spray's "Reply Brief in Support of Their Motion to Dismiss and to Strike." The DeMarco brief is called a Sur Reply (alternately, a Sur-Reply or SurReply). In the DeMarco case, the Sur Reply wasn't part of the original briefing schedule, thus permission of the court is needed to file it. It has been filed because of arguments made for the first time in (Ocean Spray's) Reply Brief. DeMarco's attorneys filed the SurReply along with a Motion for Leave to File.

There is yet another briefing stage, called a Motion for Summary Judgment, which asks the Court to make finding before a trial. Read the Sur Reply here.

DeMarco Case documents

4/26/02 New "New" Nantucket Nectars promotion: Company will spend $1.75 million on advertising over the next 12 months.

4/25/02 Press release from Cranberry Institute on health research presented at national biology conference

4/25/02 USDA Provides emergency loans to farmers S.E. Mass.

Excerpts from a February 25, 2002 interview on CNNfn's "Moneyline" with Nantucket Nectars' Tom First

N.Y. state cranberry company goes under 4/5/02 Syracuse Post-Standard Related stories from earlier Oswego County Business Magazine and from The Fulton Daily News

Ocean Spray to receive undisclosed sum from Fla. lawyers, 4/5/02 Sun Sentinel

4/5/02 Editorial: Growers need to speak up, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

 4/5/02 Snapple's $40 mil. offbeat ad campaign in NY Times

4/1/02 "...the large office building residents still call the Ocean Spray building." Boston Globe

News items for March 2002

BevNet rated all three Ocean Spray white cranberry juices D
Product is featured review for 4/3/02 (link)

4/3/03 The beverage industry website, BevNet, which reviews and rates new juice products, gave all three Ocean Spray white cranberry juices a D in their front page feature review dated 4/3/02. This is an unusually low series of ratings for any product line reviewed by BevNet, whose reviews are considered by the industry to be unbiased. They come down particularly hard on Ocean Spray white cranberry, writing: "why oh why did Ocean Spray decide to make this product?" They called the product "just plain bland and boring," noting that it also has "white grape juice which is perhaps the most bland juice known to man." They say that it has such a low juice content that it's not even good quality.

Calling the peach blend awful they write that it doesn't "resemble anything, really -- just a bunch of washed out fruit flavors shoved into a bottle." They call the strawberry blend just plain bad, adding that "normally, Ocean Spray is known for making quality juices that have a NATURAL flavor. This one is definitely an exception. Strawberry flavored White Cranberry is nothing more than a washed out beverage that uses flavors that taste anything but like fruit."

BevNET compiles rankings of its beverage reviews by number of times viewed by their visitors. As of this writing, the Ocean Spray white cranberry review ranked last in readership. It was number 316 out of 316 listings. Read entire review on BevNet here.  

How BevNet works

4/3/02 John Craven, the president of BevNet, was kind enough to provide the following information about his website for Stressline readers:

Reviews are not paid for. We either obtain the product through our own methods or receive it from a representative of the company.

  • In the case of Ocean Spray, the products were sent to us directly from Ocean Spray. They appreciate our feedback and we continue to have a good relationship with them.
  • As for questioning our reviews, we have a system that involves several types of samplings, based on the product type. This may or may not include staff samplings, consumer samplings, and blind samplings. Definitely not one person, though.
  • The #316 ranking is due to the fact that the product has only been on our site for 1 week...it does not represent quality of the product.
  • In addition, within the next 60 days, we will be unveiling a new user review feature which will allow our visitors to rank the product.
  • And, last but not least, it's an opinion! Just like a movie review, you can agree with it or disagree with it. We know that it's hard not to take it personally, but we hope that these companies do accept our feedback and use it to help their product development efforts. Many do and that's why we keep doing what we do.

Archives for March, 2002

It's official: Nantucket Nectars to be sold to Cadbury

Ocean Spray: Legal action on two fronts
FDA issues sealed warrant and DeMarco case moves ahead

Silence from FDA, US Attorneys on sealed warrant

Cranberry Growers Shake-up Industry
New Cooperative Forms 

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