Quality again will be at the forefront of Ocean Spray’s 2014 fresh cranberry season, and the agricultural cooperative is taking a regional approach to quality this year to improve the performance of its products and ensure that retail partners can maximize sales and customer satisfaction.

“We source from four distinct growing regions, and we recognize that each region presents its own set of challenges,” said David Nolte, principle scientist for fruit quality for Ocean Spray. “For example, long growing seasons in the Pacific Northwest, early frost in Wisconsin and historical high pathogen pressure on the East Coast create regional differences in managing our operations for high-fruit quality. Ocean Spray’s corporate quality team is currently working with regional ag scientists and grower-owners to develop region-specific best management practice guides to help growers achieve best fruit quality. Keeping quality ‘scorecards’ have also become a common practice to help grower-owners understand their individual fruit quality.”

At the recent New England Produce Council expo in Newport, RI, were Scott Simmons of Ocean Spray, and Chayla and Ryan Hare of Oppy, which handles sales for Ocean Spray cranberries.“Quality goes hand-in-hand with food safety,” said Scott Simmons, senior manager of Global Produce and Commodity. “During 2013, Ocean Spray commissioned 1,200 inspections of fresh cranberries on retail shelves in the United States by independent third-party auditors. Every week, 27 stores were visited in five metro markets, and auditors measured freshness, product condition and appearance. They recorded any defects and noted the block codes to trace product back to specific growers. Ocean Spray was the highest quality supplier for the five-market study.”

Simmons added that the goal of the inspection program was to identify the opportunity to improve performance of Ocean Spray’s products and ensure that retail partners can maximize sales and customer satisfaction.

The inspection program enabled Ocean Spray to help educate retailers about proper handling and display protocols, Simmons added.

“Cranberries have a relatively long shelf life, however defect rates increase after 30 days, so selling before that time threshold increases the likelihood that shoppers will have a good experience and a quality product,” he said.

Simmons also said that sourcing from four distinct growing areas — Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Quebec and the Northwest — also helps improve the quality of the fruit since it does not have to travel far to the point of sale. And having multiple warehouses in the distinct regions further adds to the improved quality and lends a “local” flavor to the fruit.

Ocean Spray adds agricultural scientist in Eastern Canada

Jean Pierre Deland joined Ocean Spray in the fall of 2013 as the regional agricultural scientist for Eastern Canada. The addition of this position to the Ocean Spray technical team reflects the growing importance of Eastern Canada as a supplier of high-quality fresh cranberries for Ocean Spray.

Deland, a graduate of McGill and Simon Fraser universities, previously worked as an agronomy research assistant at Laval University and for the last seven years has worked at CETAQ as an agronomist/consultant supporting Quebec’s cranberry growers.

Besides supporting Ocean Spray’s fresh cranberry growers in Eastern Canada, Deland will be investigating fresh fruit quality impacts of harvest timing and the role of storage conditions on fruit coloring for six cranberry varieties grown in the region.

Away from the bogs, Deland enjoys cross-country skiing, cycling and badminton. He is married, with a daughter in college, and a son (and two cats) at home.