Northland reports increase in sales

US cranberry juice manufacturer Northland Cranberries, that recently made a bid for rival Ocean Spray, on Monday reported a rise in second quarter net income compared to the same period in 2002.

Thanks to increased sales of branded juice products and sales of cranberry concentrate the cranberry company saw a slight rise in net revenues to $24.8 million, up from last year's second-quarter net revenues of $24.0 million.

John Swendrowski, chairman and CEO of Northland said :"We were encouraged by the increased sales of Northland juice and cranberry concentrate during the past quarter.​

We also have been pleased with the initial retail acceptance of our new Northland Cranberry Blueberry blend, which was announced in January."​

At the same time Northland announced that it settled an ongoing litigation case with Cliffstar corporation relating to Cliffstar's acquisition of Northland's private label juice business in March 2000. At the beginning of 2003 Northland received an $8.2 million judgment in its favour following a jury trial. The terms of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality agreement. "This was a good resolution after the trial in Chicago and it will allow us to focus our efforts on further building the Northland brand,"​ Swendrowski added.

Earlier this year Northland 'expressed an interest'​ in tabling a bid for the juice business of US cranberry cooperative Ocean Spray. An 'interest' flatly rejected by Ocean Spray. Swendrowski commented at the time : "We believe that this proposal is in the best interest of both companies."​ But his view was not shared by Ocean Spray who chose to see the bid as just that - an expression of interest - rather than a formal offer.