Ocean Spray

Did you know that we judge cranberries by colour, size and freshness... and oddly enough, by their ability to bounce?

An early New Jersey grower, John 'Peg Leg' Webb, first noted this special property of the cranberry. Because of his wooden leg, he could not carry his berries down from the loft of his barn where he stored them.

Instead, he would pour them down the steps. He soon noticed that only the firmest and freshest berries bounced down to the bottom; the soft and bruised fruit did not bounce and remained on the steps.

His observation led to the development of the first cranberry bounceboard or Bayley separator, a method Ocean Spray still uses today to remove damaged or sub-standard berries.