Cranberry Stressline

Dates 11/22 - 11/30/99

  • Makepeace subdivision meeting draws 50 residents in Plymouth

  • Article in Food Processing addresses sluggish growth, retail consolidation, potential mergers and acquisitions

  • In Wisconsin, "State growers stand by Ocean Spray, Cranberry producers divided over co-op's fate"

  • On the Forum, The Bright Side to Remember

  • Northland 1999 10K Released, read it here

  • Ocean Spray logo makes unlikely appearance in The Boston Globe

  • Cliffstar Corporation acquires Greer, S.C. bottling plant

  • History repeats itself by Jack Bell

  • On the release of the Bain Report and recalling the Board of Directors by John McFarland

Makepeace subdivision meeting draws 50 residents in Plymouth

11/30/99 A Planning Board meeting in Plymouth on November 29th was attended by fifty individuals interested in plans that the A.D. Makepeace Company has proposed for possible residential development on the 3,500 acres it owns in Plymouth.

In an article in the Patriot Ledger, planning board member Loring Tripp is quote as saying "It's not something at this stage to get overly worked up about. These small cul-de-sac roads will never be built. A.D. Makepeace is trying to protect its building rights. They filed similar plans in Carver and Wareham when those towns proposed bylaws limiting building permits. Makepeace withdrew its Wareham plans when voters rejected the proposed cap.''

Makepeace spokesmen have made it known in the past that the company is reviewing its options for future use of its land holdings, including not only subdivisions but continued agriculture use, open space and other possibilities. Joseph Haley, who is an attorney representing A.D. Makepeace, is quoted "It's an intensive analysis. We have shared some information with boards and will share more of it with the public as we go forward. These plans were filed to protect the property's zoning. They were not intended to show very much. I can commit that we will be back with development plans and share more information with boards and the public, but we're not there yet.''

Read article in the 11/30/99 Patriot Ledger here


Quote:

"The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and Secretary (Robert) Durand, is really taking an aggressive role in southeastern Massachusetts, in a hard look at what can be done through his office to offer growers short-term conservation restrictions, so I think we're at a point where we'll be seeing something roll out of that office in the near future." Jeff LaFleur in the Cape Cod Journal 11/29/99


CBS News cranberry story

11/27/99 CBS News apparently ran their story on the cranberry industry but half the country didn't see it because of  a football game which preempted the evening news. There is a discussion of the segment on the Forum.


p-forum-s.gif (1201 bytes)

The bright side to remember

11/25/99 - I am very pleased with the board’s recent decision. Now that we have decided to stick with Ocean Spray and not merge with another company, we will have true survival of the fittest. Those inefficient small farmers should have made plans long ago to get their farms paid off so that they could weather a storm like this. If they didn't think ahead, it was their fault.

We have been through this before. We must save our company for our children. Our shares will be worth a lot more when the small farmers go out of business. I am proud of the board for representing the big guy and not giving in to sentimental hogwash. Ocean Spray will survive and be returned to its former glory. The strong will survive also, and I for one look forward to buying up the extra acreage from the banks at a great price after the bankruptcies.

Read responses to this provocative posting on the Forum, or on one page Here.


Media:

Ocean Spray logo makes unlikely appearance in The Boston Globe

11/23/99 Ocean Spray can thank The Boston Globe's editorial cartoonist, Bruce Hammond, for an usual placement of the cooperative's distinctive logo. It adorns the sweatshirt of a rather portly farmer depicted in a prominent editorial cartoon on the Opinion page. The farmer, looking none too happy because he has a four or five foot dagger stabbed into his back with the point protruding from his ample belly. On the handle of the dagger is the PepsiCo logo and name. Under the cranberry grower's rubber boot is a document labeled "Merger options." The grower's comment is "on second thought, I've got a gut feeling I'd be better off on my own."


p-forum-s.gif (1201 bytes)
^ click here ^

History repeats itself
by Jack Bell

11/22/99 Veteran British Columbia cranberry grower Jack Bell provides an overview of the economic history of Ocean Spray. He writes in the Forum: "The name Ocean Spray is still worth billions of dollars. Let's take advantage of that and sell the marketing branch of Ocean Spray to anyone of a dozen companies that are seriously interested. Some growers are worried that if we sell the marketing branch that we would lose control. That is pure and simple hogwash." Read the Forum posting here | Easy to print version

Online:

Article in Food Processing addresses sluggish growth, retail consolidation, potential mergers and acquisitions
Ocean Spray ranked 49 in sales out of 100 top food companies

11/30/99 Companies that have been mentioned as being possible suitors of Ocean Spray, i.e.,  General Mills, Quaker Oats, Proctor & Gamble, Campbell and Unilever are all restructuring this year, according to an article in Food Processing. Mega-corporations   Unilever, Nestle, ConAgra and Archer Daniels Midland. could be eyeing acquisition of Kellogg, Nabisco, General Mills, Quaker Oats, Campbell Soup and Heinz, even as some of the later companies look at the possibility of acquiring Ocean Spray.

From the article: "There are a lot of young CEOs who are pretty pumped up to try to drive (revenue) growth," says Prudential Securities analyst Jeff Kanter. "If that doesn't work, I think you're going to see some mergers. It's inevitable." In a way, the relative youth of many of the CEOs would argue against mergers, since they'll all want to retain control of their companies until they reach retirement age, Kanter says. At the same time, he doubts they'll remain patient with slow growth very long before turning to acquisition. Click here to link to Food Processing article

Ocean Spray news from Beverage Online 11/22/99


Media:

In Wisconsin, "State growers stand by Ocean Spray, Cranberry producers divided over co-op's fate"

11/28/99 Tom Daykin's article in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes the differing viewpoints between Ocean Spray cranberry grower/owners in Wisconsin and cooperative members in Massachusetts and on the west coast about the decision not to pursue a sale or merger of the company.

Greg Fanning, president of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers' Association and who operates the Fanning Cranberry Company which is a part of Ocean Spray, told the Journal Sentinel that this was because Wisconsin cranberry bogs are much larger and more efficient. He states that "the bottom line of that is many of those (Massachusetts) operations have been operating under tighter margins for some time. They're feeling the pinch even worse than we are here. They are much more aggressively seeking a fix that will help them out of a tight spot sooner." Fanning adds "I'm still sort of reserving judgment yet until I get more facts, figures and information about the board's decision. I do know that our directors have been working very hard to try to find a solution that will benefit the most shareholders within the company."

Link to article HERE


Northland 1999 10K released

11/26/99 Northland Cranberries fiscal 1999 10K filing with the S.E.C. contains a number of interesting facts about the corporation and its plans for the fiscal year 2000. Among these are that Northland intends to promote cranberry juice at health clubs with free samples and that they will be spending a portion of their $9 to $10 advertising budget on consumer research to improve their awareness of consumer tastes and preferences.

On Ocean Spray, the reports says: "We expect that Ocean Spray will continue to compete aggressively against our 100% juice cranberry blend products, possibly by increasing advertising of its 100% juice product line, reducing product pricing, increasing its trade promotions or other actions. Ocean Spray has significantly more experience in the fruit juice markets than we do, as well as greater brand name recognition and greater marketing and distribution resources. We cannot be certain that we will be successful in competing against Ocean Spray."

Your can read the first 14 pages of the report on this site, HERE, or the entire report on the NASDAQ web site here.


Press release

Cliffstar Corporation acquires Greer, S.C. bottling plant
"Acquisition strengthens customer service"

11/24/99 Dunkirk, NY / Greer, SC - The Cliffstar Corporation today announced the acquisition of Carolina Products, a bottling and apple pressing facility located in Greer, SC. According to Cliffstar officials, the acquisition will allow Cliffstar to expand its capabilities to better meet customer's needs in the competitive private label juice market. CONTINUED


Northland benefits from Ocean Spray decisions

11/23/99 U.S. Bancorp, where beverage industry analyst George Dahlman closely monitors the cranberry industry, has raised Northland Cranberries rating from neutral to buy.


p-op-ed.gif (1032 bytes)

On the release of the Bain Report and recalling the Board of Directors

by John McFarland*

11/22/99 - I am intrigued at the replies given to OS stockholders by management when requests for the release of the Bain report are made.  Proprietary information?  I ask myself .... Who cares? Coke, Pepsi, Tropicana.... those companies just don't give a hoot about Ocean Spray's business plans, etc., they are far to big to be concerned about any strategic programs the Cooperative may have in mind.  Given the incredible mess Ocean Spray's made all by itself how could any business care about Ocean Spray's "strategic vision?"  CONTINUED | Easy to print version

* Editors note: John McFarland was an Ocean Spray cranberry grower/owner in Wisconsin for fifty years, until he sold his farm to Northland in 1996. This is his second Op-Ed. You can read the first, submitted in August, HERE.


 

.....

 

Back to Cranberry Stressline Front Page