Date: 18 December 2006

CRANBERRY PLANTS STILL GROWING

World-leading cranberry co-operative, Ocean Spray ITG, has announced plans to quadruple production capacity of sweetened dried cranberries with the construction of a $50 million plant in Wisconsin, USA. The move responds to exponential global demand for sweetened dried cranberries (SDCs), with sales up a massive 30 percent over the past year.

Part of a series of major investments in its production sites, this latest expansion demonstrates Ocean Spray ITG’s commitment to meeting the ever-increasing, world-wide demand for cranberry ingredients. Once completed, the extended production line will have the capacity to produce several hundred thousand kilos of sweetened dried cranberries annually.

The health benefits, versatility and process tolerance of sweetened dried cranberries, which feature in more than a thousand different grocery, bakery and dairy products worldwide, have been major contributing factors to their commercial success. With new research indicating that SDCs may offer identical anti-bacterial properties to cranberry juice, they are even more attractive to manufacturers as a functional ingredient in bakery, cereal and trail mix applications.

Rob Beams, Vice-President at Ocean Spray ITG said: “As we continue to develop applications and grow new markets, we need to boost the supply of cranberry ingredients to respond to global demand. Increased production capacity offers our customers faster turnaround times while maintaining the highest possible ingredient quality.”