our heritage
From New England to Kew, England
In October 2006, Ocean Spray joined with The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to bring the cranberry harvest in all its spectacular glory to the UK. 5.3 million berries were floated on the Palm House Pond, creating huge swathes of vibrant red in all manner of shapes.
Fifth generation cranberry farmer, Peter Beaton, who along with fellow grower Carolyn Gilmore headed up the team, was pleased with the result:
This is the first time outside the US that we’ve attempted to recreate a cranberry harvest and Kew has proved to be the perfect venue. It is the culmination of six months work. We set out to build a truly memorable and inspired attraction.
Other exhibits bringing the New England cranberry harvest to life included an 'egg beater' used for wet harvesting and the Bayley separator, an ingenious machine that gives the berries seven chances to bounce over a four inch barrier, sorting the good berries from the bad.