Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccus, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccus. They are found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

cranberry fruit on a cranberry bush

Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to 10 cm tall (often less), with slender, wiry stems, not thickly woody, and small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink, with very distinct reflexed petals, leaving the style and stamens fully exposed and pointing forward. The fruit is a true berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant; it is initially white, but turns a deep red when fully ripe. It is edible, with an acidic taste that can overwhelm its sweetness.

Cranberries are a traditional Thanksgiving food in the United States.

There are three to four species of cranberry, classified in two sections:

Subgenus Oxycoccus, sect. Oxycoccus

• Vaccinium oxycoccus or Oxycoccus palustris (Common Cranberry or Northern Cranberry) is widespread throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America. It has small 5-10 mm leaves. The flowers are dark pink, with a purple central spike, produced on finely hairy stems. The fruit is a small pale pink berry, with a refreshing sharp acidic flavour.
• Vaccinium microcarpum or Oxycoccus microcarpus (Small Cranberry) occurs in northern Europe and northern Asia, and differs from V. oxycoccus in the leaves being more triangular, and the flower stems hairless. Some botanists include it within V. oxycoccus.
• Vaccinium macrocarpon or Oxycoccus macrocarpus (American Cranberry) native to northeastern North America (eastern Canada, and eastern United States, south to North Carolina at high altitudes). It differs from V. oxycoccus in the leaves being larger, 10-20 mm long, and in its slightly apple-like taste.

Subgenus Oxycoccus, sect. Oxycoccoides

• Vaccinium erythrocarpum or Oxycoccus erythrocarpus (Southern Mountain Cranberry) native to southeastern North America at high altitudes in the southern Appalachian Mountains, and also in eastern Asia.

cranberry range map

Cranberries are related to the bilberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, all in Vaccinium subgenus Vaccinium. These differ in having stouter, woodier stems forming taller shrubs, and in the bell-shaped flowers, the petals not being reflexed.

Some plants of the completely unrelated genus Viburnum are sometimes inaccurately called "highbush cranberries".

Cranberries are susceptible to false blossom, a harmful but controllable phytoplasma disease that is most common in the eastern production areas of Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Cultivation and Uses of Cranberries

Cranberries are a major commercial crop in the American states of Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec. Wisconsin has led the United States in cranberry production since 1995. A very small production is found in southern Chile, in the Baltic States and in eastern Europe.

Historically, cranberry beds were constructed in wetlands. Currently cranberry beds are constructed in upland areas that have a shallow water table. The topsoil is scraped off to form dikes around the bed perimeter. Clean sand is hauled in to a depth of four to eight inches. The surface is laser leveled with a slight crown in the center to facilitate drainage. Beds are frequently drained with socked tile in addition to the perimeter ditch. In addition to making it possible to hold water, the dikes allow equipment to service the beds without driving on the vines. Irrigation equipment is installed in the bed to provide irrigation for vine growth and for spring and fall frost protection.

Cranberry vines are propagated by mowing vines from an established bed. The vines are spread on the surface of the sand of the new bed and pushed into the sand with a blunt disk. The vines are watered frequently during the first few weeks until roots form and new shoots grow. Beds are given frequent light application of nitrogen fertilizer during the first year. The cost of establishment for new cranberry beds is estimated to be about US$70,000 per hectare.

cranberry harvest

A common misconception about cranberry production is that the beds remain flooded throughout the year. During the growing season cranberry beds are not flooded, but are irrigated regularly to maintain soil moisture. Beds are flooded in the fall to facilitate harvest and again during the winter to protect against low temperatures. In cold climates like Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and eastern Canada the winter flood typically freezes into ice while in warmer climates the water remains liquid. When ice forms on the beds trucks can be driven onto the ice to spread a thin layer of sand that helps to control pests and to rejuvenate the vines. Sanding is done every three to five years.

Cranberries are harvested in the fall when the fruit takes on its distinctive deep red color. This is usually in late September and into October. To harvest cranberries the beds are flooded with six to eight inches of water. A harvester is driven through the beds to remove the fruit from the vines. For the past 50 years water reel type harvesters have been used. Harvested cranberries float in the water and can be corraled into a corner of the bed and conveyed or pumped from the bed. From the farm, cranberries are taken to receiving stations where they are cleaned, sorted, and stored prior to packaging or processing. In 2005 a new type of cranberry harvester called the Ruby Slipper was introduced into the industry. Whether this type of harvester with fewer moving parts will be accepted by the industry still remains to be seen.

White cranberry juice drinks are made from regular cranberries that have been harvested after the fruit are mature, but before they have attained their characteristic dark red color. Yields are lower on beds harvested early and the early flooding tends to damage vines, but not severely.

About 95% of cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, and sweetened dried cranberries. The remaining 5% is sold fresh to consumers. Cranberries destined to processing are usually frozen in bulk containers shortly after arriving at a receiving station. Cranberries for fresh market are stored in shallow bins or boxes with perforated or slatted bottoms to allow air movement to prevent decay. Because harvest occurs in late fall cranberries for fresh market are frequently stored in thick walled barns without mechanical refrigeration. Temperatures are regulated by opening and closing vents in the barn as needed.

Usually cranberries as fruit are served as a compote or jelly, often known generically as cranberry sauce. Such preparations are traditionally served with roast turkey meat and are considered by some to be a staple of the Canadian and US holiday Thanksgiving. The berry is also used in baking (muffins, scones and cakes) but, unlike many other berries, is normally considered too sharp to be eaten unaccompanied.

Cranberry juice, usually sweetened to reduce its natural severe tartness and make "cranberry juice cocktail" or blended with other fruit juices, is a major use of cranberries.

Cranberries are a source of polyphenol antioxidants, chemicals which are known to provide certain health benefits to the cardiovascular system and immune system.

There is some use of cranberry juice by people with spinal paralysis; regular consumption of the juice is supposed to reduce the rate of urinary tract infections. While much of the evidence is equivocal, a number of double-blind clinical trials have been carried out that suggest there actually is an effect: a component of the juice appears to competitively inhibit bacterial attachment to the bladder and urethra[1] allowing the bacteria to be flushed out more easily. Cranberries also act as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial lactobacillus bacteria while inhibiting the growth of harmful E. coli and listeria.

An autumn 2004 caution from the Committee on Safety of Medicines, the UK agency dealing with drug safety, advised patients taking warfarin not to drink cranberry juice after adverse effects were reported.

Cranberries also contain significant concentrations of benzoic acid, which in combination with Vitamin C forms the group 1 carcinogen benzene.

Cranberry juice contains a chemical that blocks pathogens that cause tooth decay.

Marketing and Economics of Cranberries

History of Cranberry Economics

Cranberry sales have traditionally been associated with the United States holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Until the 1930's most of the crop was sold fresh.

Cranberry growers have a long history of cooperative marketing. As early as 1904, John Gaynor, a Wisconsin grower, and A.U. Chaney a fruit broker from Des Moines, Iowa, organized Wisconsin growers into a cooperative to receive a uniform price from buyers. This first cooperative was called the Wisconsin Cranberry Sales Company. Growers in New Jersey and Massachusetts were also organized into cooperatives, creating the National Fruit Exchange that marketed fruit under the Eatmor brand. The success of cooperative marketing almost led to its failure. With consistent and high prices acreage and production doubled between 1903 and 1917 and prices fell. In 1918 $54,000 was spent on advertising, leading to $1 million in increased sales.

With surplus cranberries and changing American households some enterprising growers began canning cranberries that were below grade for fresh market. Competition between canners was fierce because profits were thin. The Ocean Spray cooperative was established in 1930 through a merger of three primary processing companies: Ocean Spray Preserving company, Makepeace Preserving Co, and Cranberry Products Co. The new company was called Cranberry Canners, Inc. and used the Ocean Spray label on their products. Since the new company represented over 90% of the market it would have been illegal had a young attorney named John Quarles not found an exemption for agricultural cooperatives. As of 2006 about 65% of the North American industry belongs to the Ocean Spray Cooperative. The percentage may be slightly higher in Canada than in the U.S.

A real turning point for the industry occurred on November 9, 1959 when the secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare Arthur S. Flemming announced that some of the 1959 crop was tainted with traces of the herbicide aminotriazole. The market for cranberries collapsed and growers lost millions of dollars. However, this scare taught the industry that they could not be completely dependent on the holiday market for their products and that had to find year round markets for their fruit. They also had to be excruciatingly careful about their use of pesticides.

After the aminotriazole scare Ocean Spray reorganized and spent substantial sums on product development. New products such as cranberry apple juice blends were introduced followed by other juice blends.

A federal market order that is authorized to synchronize supply and demand was approved in 1962. The order has been renewed and modified slightly in subsequent years, but it has allowed for more stable marketing. The market order has been invoked during six crop years: 1962 (12%), 1963 (5%), 1970 (10%), 1971 (12%), 2000 (15%), and 2001 (35%). Even though supply still slightly exceeds demand, there is little will to invoke the U.S. Federal Marketing Order out of the realization that any pullback in supply by U.S. growers would easily be filled by Canadian production.

Recent Oversupply of Cranberries

Prices and production increased steadily during the 1980s and 1990s. Prices peaked at about $65.00 per barrel in 1996 then fell to $18.00 per barrel in 2001. The cause for the preciptous drop was classic oversupply. Production had outpaced consumption leading to substantial inventory in freezers or as concentrate.

Cranberry handlers (processors) include Ocean Spray, Cliffstar, Inc., Northland Cranberries, Clement Pappas & Co., Decas Cranberry Products as well as a number of small handlers and processors.

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