Handlers and growers attend CMC meeting: Where's the fruit?

2/11/00 About 100 growers and handlers attended a meeting hosted by David Farrimond of the Cranberry Marketing Committee at the Carver, Mass. High School. Farrimond explained the details of a marketing order and fielded numerous questions. He was hampered in his responses by the fact that he is not allowed to reveal which handler or handlers have a surplus. Since Northland and Decas have stated they don't have a surplus publicly, and other independents have said the same in private communications, it was obvious to those in attendance that all or most of the a multi-million barrel surplus had to be in the hands of Ocean Spray.

The purpose of the meeting was to explain the details, and to some extent, the ramifications of the two kinds of marketing orders. Farrimond "stuck to the facts" and did not voice many opinions. He did allow that a marketing order would involve short term pain for, hopefully, long term gain, for the growers themselves. Just who, among the handlers, would benefit was addressed by the veteran Cranberry Marketing Committee member, John Decas. He did make it clear that Decas Cranberries would be hurt by a marketing order, but that handlers who had enough fruit to meet their orders would not. The numbers being reported in the letters published on Stressline from Decas, and from Northland's John Swendrowski, suggest that Northland has an ample inventory to meet demand and that Ocean Spray will be in a position to fill all of its orders whether or not there's a marketing order.

Farrimond declined to answer this reporter's questions about whether this put Ocean Spray at a competitive advantage. He wouldn't respond to a second question about whether Ocean Spray's position as an agriculture monopoly, which is protected from antitrust charges by the Capper-Volstead Act, gave it protection that would be an unfair and possibly  illegal competitive practice were it an unprotected agribusiness.

The independent handlers present agreed, off-the-record, that Northland might benefit to some extent from a  marketing order; but only Ocean Spray stood to benefit   significantly in that they could easily fill all their orders from surplus; and they could gain an advantage over any competitor that couldn't. Without a doubt, no matter how handlers come out of this crisis once the supply and demand equation is in balance again - even if it is years from now - numerous cranberry growers will be hurt.