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Ocean Spray (cooperative)
Encyclopedia
Ocean Spray is an agricultural cooperative
of growers of cranberries
and grapefruit
headquartered in Lakeville
/Middleborough
, Massachusetts
. It currently has over 600 member growers (in Massachusetts
, Wisconsin
, New Jersey
, Oregon
, Washington, Florida
, British Columbia
and other parts of Canada
). The cooperative employs about 2,000 people, with sales of $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2005. Their products include cranberry sauce
, fruit juices, and dried cranberries
.
Ocean Spray was formed in 1930, in Hanson, Massachusetts
, by three cranberry growers who wanted to expand their market for cranberries. Led by grower Marcus L. Urann, who had created a cranberry sauce, the cooperative developed more cranberry-based products. In the same year Ocean Spray became the first producer of cranberry juice drinks with the introduction of Cranberry Juice Cocktail. (A.D. Makepeace Company, one of the original founders of Ocean Spray, has been in continual operation since the late 19th century and is currently the world's largest grower of cranberries.)
In 1964, executive Edward Gelsthorpe
worked with Sylvia Schur
to develop Cranapple juice, a product that brought the cranberry to greater popularity and increased usage to year-round, earning Gelsthorpe the nickname "Cranapple Ed".
In 1976, the cooperative expanded its membership to grapefruit growers in Florida.
The cooperative has made a number of innovations, including the first juice blend, the first juice boxes, and sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins). Its cranberry juice won the ChefsBest Award
for best taste.
.
In June 2004, Ocean Spray members voted down a joint venture of the cooperative’s beverage business with PepsiCo
. Pepsi had offered the co-op $100 million, an assumption of debt and fixed prices for cranberry harvests. In July 2006, the cooperative signed a 25-year single-serve (machine-dispensed) juice distribution deal with Pepsi
.
In June 2006, at the request of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA
, Ocean Spray agreed to end its support for animal experiments. Previously, Ocean Spray had funded tests involving infecting mice with H. pylori
, bacteria
that cause stomach ulcers
, and then feeding them cranberry juice to see if it had any positive effect. These experiments were conducted to determine the usefulness of Ocean Spray's cranberry juice as a digestif.
Ocean Spray completed expansion of the Wisconsin Rapids processing plant in September 2008. The addition doubles the facility size to 440000 sq ft (40,877.3 m²)., making it the world's largest cranberry processing facility. The plant has numerous environmentally friendly features including a wastewater treatment facility, energy-efficient lighting, and the use of methane
from the nearby Veolia Cranberry Creek Landfill
for boiler fuel. With the addition, the plant will produce Craisins, in addition to currently produced juice concentrates.
Ocean Spray has Juice filling facilities in Henderson, Nevada
, Sulphur Springs, Texas
, and Bordentown, New Jersey
. They also have a facility in Kenosha, Wisconsin
that fills juice and cans sauce.
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
of growers of cranberries
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
and grapefruit
Grapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
headquartered in Lakeville
Lakeville, Massachusetts
Lakeville is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,821 at the 2000 census.For geographic and demographic information on the village of North Lakeville, please see the article North Lakeville, Massachusetts.-History:...
/Middleborough
Middleborough, Massachusetts
Middleborough is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,117 as of 2008.For geographic and demographic information on the village of Middleborough Center, please see the article Middleborough Center, Massachusetts....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. It currently has over 600 member growers (in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Washington, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and other parts of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
). The cooperative employs about 2,000 people, with sales of $1.4 billion in fiscal year 2005. Their products include cranberry sauce
Cranberry sauce
Cranberry sauce or cranberry jelly is a sauce or relish made out of cranberries, commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner in North America and Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom...
, fruit juices, and dried cranberries
Craisin
Dried cranberries are made by partially dehydrating fresh cranberries, a process similar to making grapes into raisins. They are popular in trail mix, salads, and breads, with cereals or eaten on their own. Dried cranberries are sometimes referred to as "craisins," though the word "craisin" is a...
.
Ocean Spray was formed in 1930, in Hanson, Massachusetts
Hanson, Massachusetts
Hanson is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,495 at the 2000 census.-History:Hanson was first settled in 1632 as the western parish of Pembroke. The town was officially incorporated in 1820, and was named for Maryland newspaper publisher and U.S. Senator...
, by three cranberry growers who wanted to expand their market for cranberries. Led by grower Marcus L. Urann, who had created a cranberry sauce, the cooperative developed more cranberry-based products. In the same year Ocean Spray became the first producer of cranberry juice drinks with the introduction of Cranberry Juice Cocktail. (A.D. Makepeace Company, one of the original founders of Ocean Spray, has been in continual operation since the late 19th century and is currently the world's largest grower of cranberries.)
In 1964, executive Edward Gelsthorpe
Edward Gelsthorpe
Edward Gelsthorpe was an American marketing executive. He used his creative skills to build markets for new products such as Ban roll-on deodorant at Bristol-Myers, Cran-Apple juice for the Ocean Spray cooperative, and Manwich canned sloppy joe sauce for Hunt-Wesson.-Early life and...
worked with Sylvia Schur
Sylvia Schur
Sylvia Zipser Schur was an American food columnist and innovator. She wrote cookbooks and has been credited with developing Clamato and cranapple juice. She also wrote recipes for Ann Page and Betty Crocker and helped develop menus for restaurants, including the Four Seasons in Manhattan...
to develop Cranapple juice, a product that brought the cranberry to greater popularity and increased usage to year-round, earning Gelsthorpe the nickname "Cranapple Ed".
In 1976, the cooperative expanded its membership to grapefruit growers in Florida.
The cooperative has made a number of innovations, including the first juice blend, the first juice boxes, and sweetened dried cranberries (Craisins). Its cranberry juice won the ChefsBest Award
ChefsBest Award
ChefsBest is a privately owned independent judging organization dedicated to recognizing and honoring America’s best food and food-related products...
for best taste.
Recent history
In September 2004, Ocean Spray agreed to purchase the processing assets of Northland Cranberry. This acquisition included a juice production facility in Wisconsin Rapids, WisconsinWisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,435 at the 2000 census.According to the 2010 census, the Wisconsin Rapids micropolitan area was home to 54,362 people...
.
In June 2004, Ocean Spray members voted down a joint venture of the cooperative’s beverage business with PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
. Pepsi had offered the co-op $100 million, an assumption of debt and fixed prices for cranberry harvests. In July 2006, the cooperative signed a 25-year single-serve (machine-dispensed) juice distribution deal with Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
.
In June 2006, at the request of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
, Ocean Spray agreed to end its support for animal experiments. Previously, Ocean Spray had funded tests involving infecting mice with H. pylori
Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori , previously named Campylobacter pyloridis, is a Gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium found in the stomach. It was identified in 1982 by Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who found that it was present in patients with chronic gastritis and gastric ulcers, conditions that were...
, bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
that cause stomach ulcers
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
, and then feeding them cranberry juice to see if it had any positive effect. These experiments were conducted to determine the usefulness of Ocean Spray's cranberry juice as a digestif.
Ocean Spray completed expansion of the Wisconsin Rapids processing plant in September 2008. The addition doubles the facility size to 440000 sq ft (40,877.3 m²)., making it the world's largest cranberry processing facility. The plant has numerous environmentally friendly features including a wastewater treatment facility, energy-efficient lighting, and the use of methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
from the nearby Veolia Cranberry Creek Landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
for boiler fuel. With the addition, the plant will produce Craisins, in addition to currently produced juice concentrates.
Ocean Spray has Juice filling facilities in Henderson, Nevada
Henderson, Nevada
-Demographics:According to the 2000 census, there were 175,381 people, 66,331 households, and 47,095 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,200.8 people per square mile . There were 71,149 housing units at an average density of 892.8 per square mile...
, Sulphur Springs, Texas
Sulphur Springs, Texas
Sulphur Springs is a city in Hopkins County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 14,551. It is the county seat of Hopkins County.-Geography:Sulphur Springs is located at ....
, and Bordentown, New Jersey
Bordentown, New Jersey
Bordentown City is in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 3,924. Bordentown is located at the confluence of the Delaware River, Blacks Creek and Crosswicks Creek...
. They also have a facility in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago,...
that fills juice and cans sauce.
External links
- Official website
- Cooperative History
- Ocean Spray rejects Pepsi offer
- Ocean Spray juices to get stronger - just add Pepsi: Partnership increases brand visibility of single-serves
- Ocean Spray website in German Information about Cranberry Juice
- Ocean Spray website in French
- Ocean Spray Analysis - The Cranberry Industry and Ocean Spray Cooperative: Lessons in Cooperative Governance
- Ocean Spray Ends Animal Tests - more information about Ocean Spray's agreement to stop funding animal experiments.