24 Nov 2011 The cranberry: a story of innovation and survival
In the bogs of south-eastern Massachusetts, the cranberry harvest is in, and it’s a big one. For AD Makepeace, the largest cranberry grower in the world, this year’s harvest is the biggest ever: 17 million kilograms, some of which will land on Thanksgiving plates this weekend. An article on how the cranberry has become a global winner, and survivor…
THE TURKEY GETS all the Thanksgiving attention, but consider the cranberry, that small splash of colour and tartness. Behind that cranberry, whether it’s in a sauce, a muffin, the stuffing or a juice glass, is a Massachusetts economic success story.
The Makepeace family has been growing cranberries in southeastern Massachusetts for five generations and is now the largest cranberry grower in the world. Makepeace is also the largest member of Ocean Spray, a grower-owned cooperative that brings cranberry products to the world.
Not long ago, both Ocean Spray and Makepeace were in trouble. Cranberry prices fell from $80 a barrel to $12 a barrel in two years. Small growers were going out of business.
The industry giants went looking for new leaders. Ocean Spray hired Randy Papadellis. Makepeace brought in Michael Hogan, who had served as mayor of Marlborough and chief of MassDevelopment, a quasi-public agency.
What the cranberry industry needed, Hogan says, was innovation and marketing. Enter the Craisin, commercials featuring guys hip-deep in the cranberry bogs, and the introduction of American cranberries to the world.
The Craisin is a true Massachusetts innovation, Hogan explains. Traditionally, cranberries were crushed, their seeds removed, their juice squeezed out and the hulls thrown away. Scientists at Ocean Spray figured out how to inject juice and sweeteners back into the hulls and the Craisin was born.
Ocean Spray now sells 63 million kilograms of Craisins a year, and the market is growing by leaps and bounds.
The juice business has also grown, with new varieties blending cranberry with other fruits. Ocean Spray also claims credit for inventing the juice box.
Cranberries have also gone global. The record harvest won’t drive down the price of Makepeace’s cranberries, Hogan says, because the markets for cranberries in Asia and Europe are healthy and growing. Makepeace is expanding as well, looking at opportunities to grow cranberries in Canada and South America, which would make it possible for them to produce cranberries year-round for the world’s growing appetite.
Makepeace has also diversified and gone green. It’s the largest private property-owner in eastern Massachusetts, and Hogan has led efforts to develop that property for residential and industrial use, emphasising energy efficiency and environmental responsibility.
In September, Makepeace bought Read Custom Soils, which has specialised in soil formulated for golf courses and athletic fields. The Stoughton company’s researchers are now developing specialty soils to help trees planted in urban sidewalks thrive. Its newest market is lighter weight soils for “green roofs.” Business is booming in New York City, Hogan said, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg has mounted a push to replace black tar rooftops with green grass.
There are lessons in this for other businesses trying to succeed in a tough economy: Innovate, go green and go global. Technology and automation come into play as well. The water levels in Makepeace’s bogs are monitored by satellites, adjusted by computers. The company’s full-time agricultural workforce is around 60, Hogan said, with another 45 seasonal workers brought in for the harvest.
Those numbers won’t solve the state’s 7.3 percent unemployment rate, but Hogan says the food industry shouldn’t be underestimated. One job out of five in Massachusetts is related to food, he says.
Source: wickedlocal.com