Cranberry Stressline Archives

June 29 - July , 2000

 

Cadbury Schweppes to acquire Mauna La'i, will join Mott's and Hawaiian Punch
Will be bottled at Mott's facilities 

``The Mauna La'i brand is a proven winner and complements nicely our award winning portfolio of juice products. We are excited about the potential for future growth which we believe could be significant.'' Brad Irwin, president-Mott's.

7/3/00  Mauna La'i was an Ocean Spray product launched in 1986 as one of the first national tropical fruit drink lines introducing the consumer to fruits like guava, mango and passion fruit (Island Guava, Mango-Mango and Paradise Passion).  Hawaiian Punch never trumpeted their ingredients on the label,  while Mauna La'i did. In 1997 it was sold to former Ocean Spray executives, Kevin Maguire and Joseph Flannigan for $5 million.* Reliable sources indicate that they paid $500,000 down with the remainder financed by Ocean Spray.  Mauna La'i was sold by Ocean Spray without it going out for bid. Ocean Spray allowed the new company the use of the Ocean Spray label and continued to bottle it for approximately three years. According to Chris Curran, a spokesman at Mott's, the acquisition price is not being disclosed. However, successful companies are often sold for twice their net sales, which would put the price paid for Mauna La'i in the $20 - 40 million range. 

The advertising was handled by Clarke Goward whose president was Jud Horner, who worked with Ocean Spray during the 1980s as an account executive at the former Kenyon & Eckhardt agency.

The following is from an AdWeek article published in January, 1998: "Maguire said he chose Clarke Goward because of the agency's 'sound strategic thinking and outstanding creative capabilities, [which] fit perfectly with our investment plans to build the Mauna La'i brand franchise. Back in the late 80's, the brand was developed and advertised, but that really stopped about five years ago. We really need to get back into the mind of consumers.' The audience targeted will be what Horner called 'typical juice drinkers': educated people with incomes slightly higher than the norm. A national sweepstakes will kick off in the next two months, Horner said, followed by broadcast ads in April or May. 'The thing that's nice about this brand is that the product ingredients all come from Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest,' Horner said. 'Our goal is to capture the magic of the tropics. I think we'll just have to tell the truth [about the ingredients], and the brand will sell itself.' "

Mauna La'i has just been acquired by Mott's. The acquisition of Mauna La'i comes approximately one year after Mott's parent, Cadbury Schweppes, purchased Hawaiian Punch from Procter & Gamble. The tropical juice drink segment continues to generate the highest growth rate in the beverage industry. If current growth rates are maintained, tropical juice drinks will become the third largest category on the juice aisle, behind cranberry/blend drinks and apple juice, within one to two years. Read press release.

* Not everyone got the message that Mauna La'i ceased to be an Ocean Spray product in 1997. In the May 22, 2000 edition of Marketing News an article describing the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau's  "Experience Aloha" promotional tour states: "Among the exhibit's sponsors are United Airlines and Aloha Airlines; Carlsbad, Calif.-based Taylor Made Golf Co. and Golf Digest magazine; the islands' largest retailer, Hilo Hattie's; and Mauna Lai, a division of Ocean Spray that produces tropical fruit juices."


7/6/00: Read about the interesting history and predictions for the future of Snapple in the Motley Fool.


Russian tall ship makes it to New Bedford

7/4/00 New Bedford celebrated the Fourth with a visit from the Russian tall ship after a tempest brewed over a last minute decision to bypass this beleaguered city. Article.

See related article: Russian "tall ship" to bypass New Bedford, Ocean Spray role questioned. 6/23/00 New Bedford Standard Times

 

Op Ed

John Decas responds to Op-Ed piece by Lory Krueger of Mid-America Trade Group

6/30/00 John Decas writes, in response to 6/22/00 OpEd by Lory Krueger "Clearly, growers are angry and frustrated at their returns and about the fact that their 2000 crop will be restricted to 85% of their allotment. I don’t blame them, and I personally would like to see the Secretary of Agriculture reject the proposed regulation. But if it were enacted, the growers would receive no relief, in my opinion, by marketing their restricted berries into some export initiative proposed by someone who intends to compete with their handler. In fact, this would tend to drive the grower price down further." -- Read entire OpEd piece.


New U.S. Farm Subsidy Plan Is Contrary to European Position

6/30/00 -- "Under the plan, the current domestic subsidies system would be revised to eliminate those agricultural subsidies not directly linked to price and volume of output. There also would be a ceiling on the level of domestic subsidies based on a percentage of the country's total agricultural production." Read article


Previous

Are a billion Chinese grapefruit compliant?

7/10/00 "At the Sidaokou wholesale market they have been snapped up, these strange golden orbs bedecked with American flag stickers and the name Ocean Spray." Read article


Ocean Spray chooses Welch's marketing head as President & Chief Operating Officer

6/30/00 --Press release -- Randy C. Papadellis, the marketing chief behind the dramatic growth of the Welch's brand in the 1990s, has been tapped by Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., as President & Chief Operating Officer, reporting to new CEO Rob Hawthorne. Continued


ConAgra Inc. Reports Double-Digit Earnings Growth; Notes Sales Gains & Completion Of Restructuring Initiatives

OMAHA, Neb., June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- ConAgra, Inc. (NYSE: CAG - news), one of the world's largest branded food products companies, today reported record fourth quarter earnings of $.46 per share for the period ending May 28, 2000, up 12% compared to the same period a year ago. Continued

(Ed. note: Conagra recently purchased International Home Foods - see article below.)


 

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