Ocean Spray Acquires CranChile's Cranberry Processing Operations in Chile


Mon. January 14th, 2013

<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"> Lakeville-Middleboro, MA.-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">1.14.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., a grower-owned cooperative, announced its acquisition of the cranberry processing business of AgrícolaCran Chile Limitada (Cran Chile) based in Lanco, Región de los Ríos, Chile. The acquisition will expand Ocean Spray’s international footprint and establish its presence in an important cranberry growing region. CranChile will continue its cranberry growing operation as well as its raspberry and blueberry juice concentrate business.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/index2.jpeg" alt="Cropped_Images_Tuesday" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“Ocean Spray is proud to welcome Cran Chile employees into our family,” said President and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Spray, Randy Papadellis. “Cran Chile’s reputation for quality and excellence in cranberry processing is a good strategic fit and will better help the Cooperative accelerate the growing global demand for dried cranberries, the fastest-growing product in Ocean Spray’s portfolio.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The move is Ocean Spray’s first international acquisition. The cooperative’s cranberries are included in more than a thousand products in over 50 countries across the globe.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“This acquisition will enable us to better compete in the global dried fruit market and provide long-term benefits in returns for our grower owners,” added Papadellis. “It also represents a new frontier for our cooperative that will diversify our fruit supply with a counter-seasonal supply of cranberries from Chile, enable us to distribute dried cranberries from a strategic South American location to new and existing international markets, and increase our capacity to produce dried cranberries by 12 million pounds annually.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">As per the agreement, Ocean Spray has purchased all land and assets related to receiving, storage, processing, and distribution of dried cranberries. All CranChile employees, roughly 100, will continue employment at Ocean Spray. As one of the world’s largest cranberry operations, CranChile will become a member of the Ocean Spray Cooperative.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/photo11.jpeg" alt="Cropped_Images_Tuesday" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“The employees of the CranChile facility and Ocean Spray share a culture of excellence in quality and service as well as a vision for growing the demand for cranberries in new markets,” said Gordon Swanson, Managing Partner of Cran Chile. “The opportunity represents an exceptional strategic fit for two industry leaders. In addition to becoming a major supplier of cranberries to Ocean Spray, we look forward to becoming a major member of the cooperative.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.oceanspray.com/Who-We-Are/Heritage/Our-History.aspx"_new"> Ocean Spray</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">