Examining cranberries at a receiving station in Boston, Massachusetts are (from left) Wisynco's marketing director Zachary Harding and sales director Hal Holness. (Photos: Michael Gordon)

Jamaica, the largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean with a population of approximately 2.5 million people, has long been a trendsetter influencing the way the rest of the world lives. Reggae music, Jerk and Blue Mountain coffee are all world-renowned. Jamaica boasts the fastest man on earth, a bobsled team (but no snow), a country where Pepsi outsells Coca-Cola. And now Ocean Spray's president and CEO Randy Papadellis is sitting up and taking note of just how much cranberry juice the country is selling.

In a meeting Tuesday last, in the white, sprawling Lakeville mansion that houses 500 employees in Boston Massachusetts, both Papadellis and Chief Operative Officer Stewart Gallagher applauded the efforts of the Wisynco team led by marketing director Zachary Harding and including director of sales Hal Holness and the 2005 top sales person, Kingsley Jordan.

"Jamaica with a population of 2.5 million people is, per capita, doing the same amount of business as Ireland, which was up to this point our success story. We will, in fact, be taking a closer look at this amazing feat, taking a look at the market presence of Ocean Spray/Wisynco and see how we can grow together. Over 400,000 cases make us all very excited."

According to Harding, Jamaica is second to the United States per capita worldwide in the consumption of Ocean Spray cranberry juice.

"Ocean Spray has seen a growth of 122 per cent from September 2004 to 2005 compared to the same period 2003 to 2004. Because of that growth,we are now the market with the second highest per capita consumption.

"They have put a challenge to us to try and eclipse the US market to become number one. In order to do that, we have to reach 700,000 cases," says Harding.

Indeed, and with talk of exploring every possibility for local production, the November 1-2 visit of the four-member senior Ocean Spray delegation, led by COO Stewart Gallagher, is a much-anticipated one.

The largest cranberry juice player by dollar share with a 57-60% share of the United States Market, Ocean Spray remains independently owned with stock being held by about 800 cranberry growers.

Ocean Spray markets its products in about 50 different countries. According to company representatives, the only thing holding back sales is the inherent limited supplies of the berry.

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