2/29/00

Statement of Ocean Spray CEO Robert Hawthorne
Re: Decision on Cranberry Surplus Regulation

Ocean Spray's recently appointed CEO Robert Hawthorne issued the following statement regarding the decision by the Cranberry Marketing Committee to reject surplus controls on cranberries.

This industry has missed a crucial opportunity to help its growers. This was a chance to help pull growers out of the depths of an oversupply crisis.

While there seemed to be agreement that some sort of limit may be needed sooner or later, we believe it will be too little, too late to help. The clock is ticking on hard-working farm families who built this industry, and who now are suffering through a surplus that has been left unchecked.

As a Cooperative owned by its growers -- and representing more than 70 percent of the cranberry growers in North America -- Ocean Spray's overriding interest is in the financial well-being of growers, period. We are completely alone in that regard. We are the only cranberry cooperative. Most other cranberry companies essentially are fruit buyers. Fruit buyers love bumper crops. Bumper crops mean cheap fruit and bigger margins for them. So it's no wonder that some of our competitors -- who are looking out for their own wallets, not the growers' -- would oppose a volume regulation. What's good for their profits isn't necessarily what's good for growers.

We obviously will live with this decision. There is no choice. This industry eventually will emerge from this supply crisis. But it's going to take much longer than it should, and it will exact a heavier toll than necessary on individual cranberry growers coast to coast.

Growers can expect to experience very low prices for a longer period of time than they would have with this regulation.

In the meantime, Ocean Spray will continue to do what we've done for 70 years. We're going to innovate. We're going to build and boost demand for our products. After all, we built this industry. We're going to continue to lead, and continue to look out for the interests of cranberry growers.