Wisconsin Watch Media Partners Center (https://partners.wisconsinwatch.org/tag/cranberries/)
Despite a huge oversupply of cranberries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected a recommendation to curb cranberry production, citing concerns over possible illegal coordination between the Cranberry Marketing Committee and Canadian growers.
Cranberry growers charge in a federal lawsuit that Ocean Spray, the industry’s most dominant player, is costing them hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue by wielding undue influence over the market and driving prices lower than the cost of production.
Overproduction has prompted cranberry growers and industry leaders to look for creative ways to get people in the United States and other countries to expand the role of cranberries beyond their annual cameo appearance on the Thanksgiving table.
With a 57 percent increase in cranberry production nationwide from 2002 to 2013 — and sales that continue to trail demand — U.S. growers such as the VanWychens are struggling to create new markets to absorb a growing oversupply of the tiny tart berries grown in marshes.