Ocean Spray brings its bog to the 2013 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

I’ve had a craving for cranberries for as long as I can remember. Always my favorite food at Thanksgiving, it took me a while to figure out that you can buy cranberry sauce year-round (I’m sort of a slow learner), but once I did, I ate the stuff constantly (just ask my roommates). That was a few years ago, and now there are even more Ocean Spray cranberry products from which to choose. Also, I really, really want to walk around in a cranberry bog. I don’t know why. I just do.

Disney fans can now enjoy the great taste and healthy goodness of the cranberry at the 18th annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. Park guests are getting a super cool chance to learn how the cranberry’s big, bold taste and endless versatility make it the perfect addition to any snack or dish. There is even going to be a bog.

From September 27 through November 11, 2013, chefs at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival will showcase the delicious versatility of Craisins® Dried Cranberries through chef demonstrations and private events, at certain restaurants and at the Hops & Barley Marketplace Kiosk.

From savory dinners to simple side dishes and breakfast items, Epcot will present a medley of ideas for adding a healthy dash of cranberry goodness into every meal and snack of the day. Adding a ¼ cup of dried cranberries (the equivalent of a 1/2 cup of fresh fruit) to cereal, granola or oatmeal in the morning can help meet 25 percent of your daily fruit needs for the day. They also make a great snack to carry with you at theme parks, on hiking trips, sightseeing excursions and at the beach.

“The beauty of the cranberry isn’t just what you see on the outside, it’s how it makes you feel on the inside,” said Ken Romanzi, COO of Ocean Spray Global. “Through our sponsorship at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, we can illustrate the many ways cranberries can be incorporated into snacks and meals every day, and educate guests about the healthy origins of the fruit.”

Farmers in the Ocean Spray cooperative take pride in delivering fresh-picked fruit to families around the world so they can enjoy the exceptional taste and healthy goodness of this little red fruit. Delivering a true farm-to-fork experience, guests are invited to see how cranberries are grown and harvested at Ocean Spray’s cranberry bog exhibit at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Filled with more than 1,000 pounds of fresh, floating cranberries, the bog presents an opportunity for guests to participate in the beauty of a harvest while learning about the taste, health and heritage of the fruit from Ocean Spray farmers and Disney cast members.

About Ocean Spray

Formed in 1930, Ocean Spray is a flourishing agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry and grapefruit growers in the United States, Canada and Chile. That’s right, the farmers are the owners. How cool is that? Helping to preserve the family farming way of life for generations, Ocean Spray is now the world’s leading producer of cranberry juices, juice drinks and dried cranberries.

Ocean Spray cranberries are featured in more than 1,000 great tasting and good-for-you products in more than 50 countries. It is the best selling brand in the bottled juice category. Ocean Spray is committed to managing its business in a way that respects the community, its employees and the environment. The company has more than 2,000 employees and more than 20 cranberry receiving and processing facilities.

I’ve always associated cranberry bogs with places like Cape Cod and New England. It turns out they grow in places all over the U.S. and British Columbia, including Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington. To learn all about the growing and harvesting of cranberries, including what exactly a bog is, please click here. It is quite the interesting story.

Fruit Facts

• The cranberrry is one of only three native fruits cultivated in the United States. The other two are the Concord grape and the blueberry.
• To dispel the popular myth, cranberries do not grow in water. They grow on vines in beds layered with sand, peat, gravel and clay. These beds, known as bogs, were originally made by glacial deposits.
• The major growing areas for cranberries are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, Chili and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Quebec.
• Cranberries are naturally low in sugar. They are fat-free, cholesterol-free and a good source of fiber.
• The power of the cranberry centers on its well-documented urinary tract health benefits and emerging heart health properties.
• It takes 4,400 pressed cranberries to make one gallon of cranberry juice.
• Americans consume 400 million pounds of cranberries a year. 80 million of that is during the week of Thanksgiving.
• 80 percent of this year’s harvest will be consumed in North America. The rest will be shipped overseas where the cranberry is gaining in popularity.

If you’re one of the unlucky ones (like myself) that can’t make it to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, you can console yourself by visiting OceanSpray.com for delicious meal ideas and seasonal inspirations from around the world. You can check out some of the delicious Epcot cranberry selections by clicking on over to EatingWDW.com

Cranberry lovers who would like to share their stories and recipes are encouraged to tweet @OceanSprayInc or post on Ocean Spray’s Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram pages. Use the hashtags #exceptionalcranberry and #cranberrylife to keep the conversation going. 

Please visit CranberryHealth.com or Oceanspray.com to find recipes – such as the turkey cranberry rollup, Craisins Dried Cranberry Breakfast Bar or Ladybus on a Log – or to learn about more cranberry health attributes.