Editorial

The berry, not the wave

12/17/00 Before there was an Ocean Spray, or an American Cranberry Exchange or a United Cape Cod Cranberry Company for that matter, there was an edible red berry indigenous to what is now the United States. The Chippawas called it a'ni-bimin, the Alogonquin called it atoqua, and the Naragansetts called it sasemineash. Native Americans ate it raw, or mixed with maple sugar. Even school children today are taught about how Native Americans made it into pemmican. (The American Cranberry by Paul Eck)

Now a few cranberry growers seem to believe more in an entity called Ocean Spray than they do in the extraordinary little cranberry. There's nothing wrong with nostalgia for the cooperative that had its humble beginnings in 1957 when the major cranberry companies of the day came together to become Ocean Spray, Inc.  But Ocean Spray is nothing more than a company, which has like all companies, a legacy based on people and their accomplishments. The company is still a construct made real only by legal agreements.

The cranberry existed before Ocean Spray. If Ocean Spray disappears, it will still exist. Even without the growing proof of its health benefits, people will consume it in various forms because they find it delicious and because it adds a unique flavor to numerous other fruit juices and foods. Thanks to the efforts of multinational beverage corporations, they will do so all over the world. If the recent promotional foray into Japan is any example of how the average overseas consumer responds to "our" berry, the entire planet can be made hungry for cranberries.

Economics in the food and beverage industry dictates that if there is an untapped market and a product consumers will buy, companies who already compete in that segment will add that product to its line when sales of other products aren't growing as fast as they would like. 

The special economics governing arch rivals Coke and Pepsi bodes well for the future of the cranberry industry. Pepsi scored big with its recent acquisitions, and beat out Coke for an extraordinary beverage named after a football team which was named after a toothy reptile. Thus Pepsi "snapped up" a good ten feet of shelf space on what they now want to dub the "power aisle." Coke can counter that with one of three purchases: Welch, Campbells (which owns V-8) or Ocean Spray. Or they could introduce shelf-stable Minute Maid products, a plan they had and abandoned a few years ago. 

Cranberries are one of the most versatile fruits on the market. Consider that Native Americans not only mixed it with maple sugar, but with deer meat or fish to make pemmican. Ocean Spray, proud owner of the trademark "cran" has discovered that merely putting the little syllable in front of another fruit will induce consumers to try a new blend. In fact, they even put "Cran" in front of "America" for a seasonal offering.

Other companies who have to use the entire word "cranberry" have discovered the same thing. If you look at the juice shelf you'll notice that the word cranberry almost always comes first!

If anyone is blinded by their loyalty to Ocean Spray or another cranberry company to the extent that they don't think Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in particular, and other international beverage companies as well, aren't planning to capitalize on this centuries old taste sensation, they need to take off their blinders and think again. They have become so loyal to a company that they have forgotten their loyalty to the cranberry itself.

Pepsi needed to purchase Quaker Oats because in order to corner the sports drinks market, they had to own Gatorade. However, a purchase of Ocean Spray would only give the new owner a head start. As much as Ocean Spray is identified with cranberries, cranberries still stand on their own as a unique, versatile and healthy fruit readily identified by both its appearance and its name. 

Cranberry Stressline believes in the cranberry farmer and the little red berry he or she grows. We will support any endeavor which enables the cranberry farmer to make a good living feeding this amazing fruit to the world. If Pepsi decides to introduce cranberries into India, or Coke decides to introduce them into China, or if the Mid America Trade Group can stake out Pakistan as its territory, the more power to them. 

We believe that it is in the best interest of Ocean Spray growers to sell to a corporation like Coca-Cola or PepsiCo for a fair price, and under terms that assure a home for their fruit at a reasonable profit. If they don't,  they are destined to become an also-ran in the race to expand the global market to balance the increasing supply. At least with a sale to a major international beverage company, Ocean Spray growers would become stockholders in the acquiring company. 

If Ocean Spray growers holding a mere quarter of the shares decides to block a sale, no matter how beneficial the deal is, those shareholders may find they won an empty victory. They will remain principals in a company with a dwindling market share and virtually no money for new product development and promotion. Their shares will forever be worth $25.00. They may still fly First Class to meetings, but it will be as part of a second class company.

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