Ocean Spray Craisin Manufacturing, Markham, Washington, USA

Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc, a successful large cooperative of 650 cranberry and 100 citrus growers in the US must be credited with the invention and marketing of the craisin (starting in 1995). A craisin is a dried and sweetened cranberry, which is similar in texture to a raisin or other dried fruit but the taste is lot more tart (even though it is sweetened).

The term craisins is actually a registered trademark of Ocean Spray, who now also market orange and cherry flavoured dried cranberries. Craisins are actually much lower in vitamins and much higher in sugar than fresh cranberries, but they have gained popularity as an energy-rich and nutritious snack food.

Retail craisin sales in the US have tripled since 2003. Although sweetened dried cranberries (SDC) can be bought in the same way as other dried fruit, one of the mainstays for Ocean Spray SDC is as an ingredient for the production of other food products. SDC are featured in more than 1,000 different grocery, bakery and dairy products worldwide.

Craisins account for around $150m of Ocean Spray's annual sales of $1.5bn. According to the company, sales of the product have doubled in the last two years and are expected to double again over the next two years.

Michael Stamatakos, Ocean Spray VP of operations, commented: "We're going coast-to-coast with Craisins production... The steady build-up of our manufacturing capacity – first in Wisconsin, then in Massachusetts, and now in Washington – is all part a carefully paced plan to match our production with the growing demand for our sweetened dried cranberries."

Ocean Spray’s marketing team attributes much of the popularity of craisins to the consumer quest for healthy foods. Science is tending to point to the unique health benefits of cranberries.

MARKHAM PLANT

The Markham plant in Washington State is one of the largest Ocean Spray production facilities in North America. It is the only plant on the west coast, employing 65 people year-round and about 150 in total during cranberry harvesting season between mid-September and November. The facility has undergone a $17.8m expansion for craisin manufacture, which started in mid-2006. Ocean Spray has an ambitious plan to quadruple production of craisins and also has plans for new production facilities in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Washington.

The expansion at the existing plant in Markham (the fifth craisins production line at the plant) will generate 25 to 30 new jobs and produce some 15 million pounds of sweetened dried cranberries annually.

Ocean Spray also broke ground on a $9.9m, state-of-the-art juice extraction system at Markham in March 2006 (now completed) and has also started up a brand new 15-million-pound craisins line in Middleboro, Massachusetts. This plant has now added two new craisins production lines in the last three years.

In October 2006 a third investment was made at the Markham plant when Ocean Spray authorised the addition of a $4.5m SDC retail packaging line to the Markham plant. This brought the overall investment in the Markham plant in 2006 to $32.2m.

KEY TECHNOLOGY

In the production of SDC, Ocean Spray uses vibratory shakers from Key Technology as part of the process. The Markham plant now has its fourth craisins line, which started up in May 2006. The fifth line started up in the first quarter of 2007 and also uses Key Technology sanitary Smart Shakers.

The Iso-Flo vibratory shakers convey the sticky dried fruit product on the packaging line and handle a wide range of functions on the processing line. Each of the craisin production lines at Markham produces 10 to 12 million pounds of SDC per year.

Each of the Iso-Flo vibratory shakers are for more than just conveying product. While moving product between the units of operation that slice, extract, infuse, dry and package, the Iso-Flo shakers are used to clean, wash, dewater, de-syrup, size and grade the cranberries.

The cranberries have vastly different characteristics at each stage – from being frozen at the start to a hot, sticky product after the dryer. Each stage requires a unique method to handle the different product characteristics.

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY

By using Iso-Drive frame-mounted drives and StrongArm spring arm assemblies, the Iso-Flo distributes energy to the shaking conveyor bed in a controlled natural frequency operation. The lower amplitude, higher frequency movement has been proven to minimise product degradation and also reduces maintenance. But in the Markham plant Ocean Spray will also be installing Key Technology’s new laser sorting system.

Key Technology’s Raptor is the system to be installed which uses the new Optyx technology. Thus the system will be a combination of Raptor Laser Technology with proprietary state-of-the-art colour cameras on one sorting platform. Colour sorting maximises the removal of defects while laser sorting maximises the removal of foreign material.

NEW EXPANSION

With demand outstripping supply for craisins in November 2006 Ocean Spray decided to expand in the state of Wisconsin by building a $50m plant at Wisconsin Rapids. The 100,000ft² building is scheduled to be finished by September 2008 at the site of Ocean Spray’s existing facility in Wisconsin Rapids, the former Northland Cranberry plant purchased in 2004.The new plant is expected to create 100 jobs by the time it comes on-stream.

Ocean Spray broke ground on phase two of the new Wisconsin expansion in March 2008. This will be ready for production by the end of 2008/ start of 2009.

Wisconsin is the top producer of cranberries in the US; the state is expected to produce 3.75 million barrels of cranberries in 2007. Ocean Spray employs about 470 people in Wisconsin and buys fruit from 120 growers in the State who are part of the same cooperative.

Ocean Spray will receive tax incentives as well as training and development grants tied to the new jobs that will be created in Wisconsin Rapids.

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