Updates from the cranberry wars

Some interesting filings in the lawsuit:in this first filing, OS asks the judge to throw out some arguements, and have an oral arguement on others. the second tab lists the attachments for OS’s filing

cranwarsosmotionforsanctionsmar2013

cranwarsmotiondismissalattachments3182013

This is the plaintiff’s response to the OS request.
cranwarsmotiondismissal3182013

I have to say, this is why there are judges, lawyers and lawsuits. Both sides have their points, both sides refer to a bunch of legal cases that prove their case. I’m sticking to blogging.

Cranberry Marketing Committee, Orlando, FL

Well, it is time to head to the CMC meeting in Orlando. Usually everyone arrives on Sunday and the actual meeting is on Monday and Tuesday of this coming week, February 25, 26. I have to say that this is a wonderful time to leave WI, with snow falling. A year ago we were almost growing cranberries by this time! Yikes. Oh, and everyone was expecting the independents to make $35-40/barrel. Seriously.

So, what to expect from the CMC? Let’s start by reminding everyone that I am not a member or even an alternate. I go to these meetings to learn and try, try, TRY to figure out what is happening in the industry. The CMC has two main functions as I can tell. First of all, they take our $.28/barrel assessment and use it to generically advertise cranberries overseas and secondly, they can vote for a set aside to manage the size of the crop when we are over supplied. They also are the vehicle for numbers and reporting…can’t forget that part!

I think they really have a handle on the promotion part. Our international sales have steadily increased over the past 10 years…and I’m sure our efforts there have helped.

When it comes to volume regulation, EVERYONE I’ve talked to agrees that we have way too many berries in the freezer. Both Ocean Spray and the independents have too much fruit. Quebec and British Columbia had great crops and the projections are that additional new beds will be harvested this fall. What to do? The good news is….everyone is oversupplied. This means that maybe, maybe we can figure out how to deal with the situation. The US and BC have a marketing order, Quebec and Eastern Canada does not. We must figure out how to get Quebec into being part of the solution on this. All the US handlers are dropping their prices. Juice companies are searching around for low priced concentrate. The SDC prices are slipping. All around is bad news for growers…but yet…is it?

Say your sales history is 30,000 barrels and the set aside is 15%, so you can deliver 25,500 barrels. Without a set aside, the prices are going to be low, $15? What if, with a set aside we could get $25?
30,000 barrels x $15 = $450,000
25,500 barrels x $25= $637,500

Now, clearly I don’t know the prices, etc, etc…so don’t get all over me. I’m not the economist. I know that as an industry, we know how many barrels we sold last year, we know how many we took in and we can project how many barrels we can sell this year. It is math people! If we don’t continue to over supply the market, the prices will come up. Pure and simple.

Let’s come together in Orlando. We will have visitors from Canada and all the handler groups represented. Lets keep our egos in check and have a meaningful discussion. We can start with what we agree on: we delivered a lot of berries in 2012. If we can agree that by taking some fruit off the table in 2013 our prices will go up…then the only thing left to discuss is how and how much. Are you with me?

Final post of the day

So today was the trade show and first day of the Wisconsin Winter growers meeting. Since United Cranberry had a booth, our director Tim Feit and I spent some time talking to growers and vendors alike.

EVERY grower was glad for this cold spell…it is the coldest bit of weather that we’ve had in probably 3 years and everyone is glad to be making some quality ice. I think we will be sanding soon. And since our personal lack of sand the last few years has been a running joke amongst a few, so there! Ice!

Otherwise, the independent growers are worried about price. And they should be! The OS auction is next week and they have already predicted a price for their 2012 B pool at $16-21. It is my understanding that all the B pool fruit goes into the auction, so they must have figured out how much everyone is going to bid? Is that mental telepathy or what? Go figure.

It was great seeing everyone. United Cranberry is working on some interesting projects that we hope to be able to tell you about soon. Keep warm and be safe.

Cranberry wars continued

I’ve heard from two different sources (and the website confirms) that the judge has ruled on Ocean Spray’s motion to release the names of the John Does that are suing Ocean Spray in Massachusetts court.  My understanding is that the judge ruled that the names have to be released, but the document isn’t available to be downloaded, so I don’t have that proof, but I believe my sources.  So, there you have it, the names will have to be released for the suit to go forward.  I’m betting that at least some of the original plaintiffs are willing to go forward.  We will see.

Ocean Spray’s exceptional cranberry

So I saw this on Facebook and had to laugh…because I love the guys in the bog and it’s funny.  But this is serious stuff…and Ocean Spray is taking the lead on this war on sugar.  We should all give them a big thanks.

http://www.oceanspray.com/Events—Promos/Coupons/Healthy-Secrets-of-the-Cranberry.aspx

 

Cranberry nutrition news

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=145

This article has some nice news about the healthy cranberry!

Lots of things going on in our cranberry world

I’d say that harvest is mostly finished and handlers are counting up their berries.  Looks like the crop was larger than expected, mostly due to Quebec bringing in huge numbers.  Good for them, but probably bad for prices.  The OS auction was held on Weds, and concentrate prices dropped a bit.  I have heard that one big WI handler dropped his bacse price to $26.50, due to dropping SDC prices.  Also not good.   The good news is that we brought in a quality crop, and there is always a place for quality fruit!

On the legal front, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Ocean Spray in Massachusettes court.  I didn’t know anything about it, so I am just reading and absorbing as you will.  Looks like 7 independent growers from all the main growing areas and one B pool grower have instigated this.  Don’t know who they are, or how they are doing it.  I did google search the attorneys and they look intesting.  Seems like the suit is from Oregon originally, but I’m not a lawyer and don’t really know how to read these things. I just tried to load the lawsuit file and it is protected somehow.  You can find it online here  http://dockets.justia.com/docket/massachusetts/madce/1:2012cv12016/147455/

United Cranberry is just rocking along.  We took in some fruit, have it cleaned and in bins and are looking for buyers!  thanks to our growers for a great first season!

 

 

 

Cranberry harvest report: Hold on, the crop might not be as big as everyone thought!!!!!!!!

oh boy. I’ve spoken to a half dozen growers, handlers and the like from all over and the consensus is that the crop isn’t nearly as big as was previously thought.  We will know more in a week or two, but maybe 400,000 barrels smaller? So like 7.3 million barrels?  Developing,,,,

Cranberry Marketing Committee meeting Milwaukee August 2012

Ok, so I admit that I was unable to attend the CMC meeting in Milwaukee, due to another meeting.  I have a love/hate with the CMC.

I love seeing everyone, talking to the growers and handlers. All really fine people and especially those folks who actually serve the industry by volunteering to actually be ON the CMC.  A big thanks goes out to them for the work they do.

I also like looking at the numbers…the summary reports of all the handlers who report in 4 times a year as to their supply and sales of cranberries.  This tells us how many cranberries we grow, how many are in inventory and how many we sell.  In aggregate (no one reveals a trade poslition). The USDA’s representative ususally does a presentation of his view of the numbers, and at this meeting an Ocean Spray representative made a presentation on how they see things.  While I wasn’t at the meeting, I have  recieved some of the data and the good news is, that we are really great growers and we grow a BIG crop!  The bad news is, the consumption of cranberries, especially in the juice aisle is falling off a bit.  As Ocean Spray said…we don’t have a supply problem, we have a demand problem.

What don’t I like about the CMC?  For starters OS has more info than the rest of us.  There are about 40 handlers that report to the CMC.  OS can take their  OS numbers, subtract from the whole and then have OS  AND our numbers. Then they come to the meeting and tell independents that WE have the problem.  Maybe, maybe not, but we will never really know, since we don’t have all the same info.  **I am not accusing OS of anything here, I am just making an observation**

I think the CMC serves a valuable purpose in that it collects industry numbers. I also think they may be able to generically promote our crop overseas.  I’m not sure it will ever manage the size ot the overall crop and keep supply and demand in balance.  Too many politics involved to figure that out (and you thought there is politics in the presidential race?)

My take from the CMC?  We produce too many cranberries and we will for the next couple of years.  (however, see my earlier post about water in WI, this could have a big effect, maybe not so for this year, but next year). We need new products and new markets to sell our production capacity.  And  finally I learned that no matter what anyone says…I’m not planting any time soon and that means 5-10 years, no matter what.

Wisconsin cranberry harvest update #1

Wow. I haven’t blogged since the Wisconsin Field days in August and for that I apologize.

Harvest has started early in Wisconsin. Yes, usually growers harvest a bed or two at this time to shake the rust off, try out the equipment, make sure everything is in working order. But this year, some growers are going early because of a lack of water. Most, if not all of Wisconsin has watched frost for the past week. Some growers in the central growing area are finding that their reservoirs are not recovering after a night of frost, and then when they went to flood a bed they couldn’t hold a flood for more than 8 hours…the water just soaked in. All efforts are being made to get those beds water and growers are harvesting to get the crop in, with a color of 15 to 20. Is this all growers? Certainly not. But some areas have had minimal rain in the past 4-6 weeks and the water just isn’t there. It is a combination of drought, sand and nightly frost watch. Keep tuned. This long growing season is throwing us a bit of a curve ball with harvest water.

And, what about winter flood? What are you seeing out there?