Current leadership, company business model, innovation pipeline and marketing strategy are outdated, ineffective, unsustainable, and not working. They are, in fact, causing the company great harm. Current executive management team is incompetent on virtually all fronts. As they near retirement, and their legacies are being shaped, they seem content to keep patching the leaking holes in a sinking ship that needs major repair. Major (costly) surgery is needed, but band aids are cheap and leave enough in the budget after grower payout for bonuses. Meanwhile the company is on life support as they continue to lose share, sell less cranberry juice, see new competition hit the shelves, and lose brand equity with their top retail customers. Corporate employees, plant employees, cranberry growers, investors, and stakeholders have lost confidence in current leaderships capacity and ability to make sound decisions. Ocean Spray was downgraded by analysts to a BBB- credit rating, the lowest rating possible, limiting cash flow options and the ability to secure competitive interest rates. Grower lawsuits gaining traction, putting significant capital at risk, generating negative PR, and creating irreparable damage to grower relations. Plant closures, massive layoffs, loan defaults and bankruptcy seems, by many, to be inevitable. Arguably the worst part is, Ocean Spray continues to act as if there are no significant issues and par-for-the-course is an acceptable strategy going forward.
