Accelerating health and wellness: Ocean Spray partners with global innovation platform Plug and Play
The farmer-owned cooperative joins the Silicon Valley-based accelerator to leverage a global open innovation ecosystem of entrepreneurial partners and start-ups
25 Oct 2019 --- Ocean Spray Cranberries, a cooperative of more than 700 farmer families, has officially partnered with Plug and Play, the largest global innovation platform for industry accelerators. The partnership will focus on driving strategic and innovative growth for the cooperative by leveraging a global start-up ecosystem to solve critical business challenges with a creative, disruptive and agile approach.
The news comes during a time where big players in the food industry are harnessing the research tactics and missions of smaller start-ups to access a market that is increasingly concerned with “a story” behind a product. This week, Innova Market Insights pegged “Storytelling: Winning with Words” as its Top Trend for 2020. The market researcher underscores a growing consumer affinity for products backed by a compelling narrative.
Moreover, “Small Player Mindset” is a top trend this year. Start-ups’ strength as thought leaders has driven multinational companies and legacy brands to invest in them. These companies also have a marketing advantage. A 2018 Innova Market Insights trends survey found that two in five US and UK consumers prefer small brands “because they are more dedicated to their products and have a personal story.” This is on-trend, as 20 percent growth has been reported in food and beverage launches with a social or ethical claim (Global, 2017 vs. 2016).
Ocean Spray Cranberries has officially partnered with Plug and Play, the largest global innovation platform for industry accelerators. By partnering with Plug and Play, Ocean Spray will harness the ingenuity of the accelerator’s 17 verticals, including its Food & Beverage and Health categories, to advance solutions to cross-sector barriers and position the cooperative to have higher command over the health and wellness marketplace. Additionally, Plug and Play will work with Ocean Spray on designing iterative bespoke strategies to continue driving optimization, working with acclaimed start-up innovators, including a dedicated innovation team.
“As a nearly 90-year old brand, it is paramount for our cooperative to drive cutting-edge innovation and to quickly and effectively tackle business challenges so that we can accelerate our evolution toward health and wellness,” explains Bobby Chacko, President and CEO of Ocean Spray.
“Our partnership with Plug and Play gives Ocean Spray a necessary voice and presence in the Silicon Valley network, tapping into an open innovation community that will create more depth of knowledge and diversity of experience for our team,” he adds.
“We need dedicated partners who are open to new start-up innovation. This willingness to transform will help not only their businesses but entire industries,” says Michael Olmstead, CRO of Plug and Play.
“Partnering with Ocean Spray provides opportunities to connect our start-ups to a distinguished company so they can revolutionize the market. We are proud to welcome them into our ecosystem,” he notes.
The partnership catalyzes future strategic initiatives and innovation to be launched by Ocean Spray. With an entrepreneurial spirit, the two partners will amplify the incredible power of the cranberry into exciting future growth opportunities.
Edited by Elizabeth Green
