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Middleboro
Gazette
Decas
proposes 1,000 home development on Lakeville's Betty's Neck
Bogged
Down by Cindy Dow
Cloud
of Dust by Jane Lopes
More
on Decas land
Cliffstar acquires Five
Star Cranberry Processors
6/19/01 -- Press Release:
DUNKIRK, NY - Cliffstar Corporation, the country’s largest processor of
private label fruit juices, today announces the acquisition of Five Star
Cranberry Processors, Inc. of Warrens Wisconsin. Five Star operates
the cranberry receiving station that services most of Cliffstar’s
Wisconsin cranberry growers, and ensures the availability of proper
cleaning facilities necessary to service growers under contract with
Cliffstar. MORE
Co-ops in the news
Reprinted
with the permission of Mr. Root and High Plains Journal, www.hpj.com
Is Farmland-ADM venture best
for members?
by Ken Root
Ken Root is the host of
AgriTalk,
a national daily radio talk show that is broadcast on 128 stations in 32
states (including Wisc. and Oregon).
AgriTalk is the first two way conversation about the issues facing rural
America and agriculture.
The recent agreement between Farmland
Industries and Archer Daniels Midland to form a partnership and allow ADM
to manage all Farmland grain elevators has renewed the complaint that
cooperatives are not working in the best interests of their members.
A cooperative, by definition, is created to
provide competition in the marketplace and serve its members needs. The
Capper-Volstead Act gave farmers the means to form competitive business
entities, in order to buy inputs at lower prices and to sell outputs for
higher prices. How can a decision by a co-op, to limit competition by
partnering with a competitor, serve its members? CONTINUED
Tri Valley lawsuits become a
class action
6/8/01
A lawsuit filed by 500 Tri Valley Growers members against former President
Joe Famalette, the former board of directors and the accounting firm of
Deloitte & Touche alleges concealment of: losses in inventory
value and earnings, revenue recognition and net losses, significant
negative sales trends and results for its tomato products (Tri Valley's
largest source of income), material weaknesses in internal accounting
controls, deteriorating international operations and Deloitte's lack
of independence and objectivity. Read
the Modesto Bee article here.
Cranberry Sue
6/7/01 Cranberry Sue is a new
character on the beverage stage along with Pineapple Paula and Orange
Olivia. They're a part of the Malibu Loves Fruit tour, targeting women
ages 21-29. In a bit of word play the company has added a Fruit loves
Malibu segment targeting gay males. Read
company press release. In other Spirit News, two Chicago restaurants
are promoting a drink called Ginger
Blush, made with ginger ale, vodka and cranberry juice. On
the ingredient front, Romancing the Scones, a Reno, NV company, which
sells 100% natural baking mixes, now offers Cranberry Raspberry
USDA Purchases
6/7/01 The USDA has purchased
96,900 cases of Cranberry Juice Concentrate in 8/64 oz. containers for an
estimated cost of $1.2 million from Dunkirk, NY-based Cliffstar Corp. for
distribution to the Child Nutrition and other related domestic food
assistance programs. Deliveries are to be made from July 1 to Dec. 31.
USDA also purchased close to 1.6 million pounds of Dried Cranberries at a
cost of $2.6 million from Lakeville, MA -based Ocean Spray
Cranberries Inc. for distribution to Needy Families, Child Nutrition and
other related domestic food assistance programs. Deliveries are to be made
from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2001.
(Source: Food Institute)
OpEd
No Consensus - No mandate
by John Decas
6/6/01 -- As of 11:35 AM Tuesday, June 5, I
evaluated the postings of comments sent to Secretary Ann Veneman regarding
the volume regulation proposals. CONTINUED
|
Eat
your purples: Color Coding Is the Latest
Approach to a Healthful Diet
: ""We're
trying to make people understand that fruits and vegetables in their
most colorful form have the most nutritional bang for the buck,"
says Linda Nebeling, chief of health promotion at NCI."
Researchers
develop white wine with health benefits similar to red
Great
white: White chocolate driving innovation in the global confectionery
sector
Independents
Northland
Cranberries, Inc. Negotiates Extension of Forbearance Agreement With Its
Primary Lenders
Northland
Cranberries and Clement Pappas Announce Sale of Northland's North
Carolina Bottling Plant and Cranberry Sauce Business to Clement Pappas;
Enter Into Contract Manufacturing Agreement
International
Ocean Spray in England
6/7/01 According to an
article in Grocer, "Ocean
Spray's 7m [pounds sterling] summer advertising deluge is to include TV,
women's magazines, posters, PoS and sampling."
TV ads feature a swimmer in a pool full of cranberries. The tagline is:
`Ocean Spray ... There's definitely something in it.' According to
the article, "a series of advertorials in national women's
press is timed to coincide with the TV burst as are six-sheet posters
and trial activity in gyms.
A national sampling campaign will involve distributing one million
samples at high traffic locations in stores, in shopping precincts and
at shows. Advertising on the trolleys
of four major retailers runs from June to August.... Cranberry
is the second fastest growing flavour in the ambient juice drink
category after apple."
Also in England: Spiked
Silver is a new carbonated drink that combines 7.5% cranberry with
caffeine, taurine and natural Latin American herbal extracts guarana and
yerba mate. More
information.
Apparently Boston has sales
appeal in South Africa where Boston Bay Beverages has introduced a new
flavor in its Boston Bay Iced Tea. It is a Sparkling Cranberry
beverage. The drink is targeted at health conscious adults.
In Finland Marli Vital Juice
has introduced Karpalo-Rypale (cranberry-grape) flavor. The
company claims this is the first juice in Finland to contain flavonoids,
which are extracted from South African red tea. It is said to be
gentle on the stomach and free from caffeine. Flavonoids are said to
help the immune system in the body and protect against diseases.
USDA Comments
5/4/01 Of the numerous
letters submitted to the USDA, the aprox. thirty-six listed here deserve
special attention because the authors present in-depth analysis as well
as thoughtful and cogent
arguments to support their positions.
The most extraordinary letter comes in the form of a "Memorandum of
Law" from Washington, D.C., agriculture attorney Gary Baise*, who
supports John Decas, Charles Johnson and Mathew Betters. In it he
attacks Ocean Spray for, among other things, using " last
year’s Marketing Order as a predatory tool to increase its market
share which is now about 55% although they control 70% of the berries
grown each year." Baise states that
the failure to provide for a pool reserve (ed. note: a
recommendation of the subcommittee) is USDA's failure to stop
unfair competition and in violation of the statute.
You
can read his letter here.
Also, of interest is the
letter from Richard
J. Sexton, the U.C. Davis
economist who consulted for Ocean Spray. He advocates strongly
for a marketing order, and against a 4.0 because it would harm the
"aggressive demand expansion efforts that are now underway."
By not specifically endorsing the 4.7 he appears to leave the
door open for a compromise between 4.0 and 4.7.
*
Gary Baise
was the first chief of staff at the newly created EPA 30
years
ago and also served as a U.S. associate deputy attorney general and
acting deputy attorney general. Over the years, most of his clients have been ag organizations or
agribusiness' such as the National Association of Wheat Growers. He was
once mentioned as a possible secretary of
agriculture in the George W. Bush administration. More
about Gary Baise
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(Click
image to enlarge) 6/3/01
Although it isn't clear whether the trademark applies to "Cape Cod
Cranberry" or to the style of lettering (hopefully it's the later), it is certainly an outrage
that the product is labeled as it is. There is no other fruit pictured on the
front portion of the label besides cranberries, and it lists its fruit juice concentrate ingredients
in the following order: apple, grape and cranberry. The front of the
label reads in small letters "Flavored Blend of Juices From
Concentrates," but what will catch the consumers eye, of course, is
Cape Cod Cranberry.