Cranberry
Our customers use cranberries because of their distinct tart flavor, functional properties, and strong association with health benefits. Cranberries are commonly processed into juices, concentrates, dried forms, and extracts, making them versatile for use in beverages, snacks, sauces, and supplements. Their naturally sharp taste helps balance sweetness in products and enhance overall flavor profiles. Cranberries are also rich in antioxidants and are widely associated with urinary tract health, which supports targeted health marketing claims. Additionally, their bright red color improves visual appeal and can serve as a natural coloring ingredient. Their availability in shelf-stable forms makes them convenient for large-scale production and consistent product formulation.
Cranberry can be supplied as organic upon request
Botanical: Vaccinium Macrocarpon / Vaccinium Oxycoccus
Nature’s Sharpest Ruby
In commercial fruit ingredient processing, harvest methodology and cultivar selection dictate color intensity, acidity, and PAC concentration:
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Commercial High-Yield Cultivars (Stevens, Ben Lear, Pilgrim & Mullica Queen): Engineered for dark red skin color, large berry size, high titratable acidity, and rich anthocyanin content. These cultivars are the backbone of commercial NFC juices, 50°–65° Brix clarified juice concentrates, and seedless purees.
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Wet Harvesting vs. Dry Harvesting: Over 90% of processing cranberries are wet-harvested. Bogs are flooded with water, and mechanical eggbeaters dislodge the fruit from vines. Because cranberries contain four internal air pockets, they float to the surface for rapid gathering. Wet-harvested fruit is immediately delivered to receiving stations for washing, de-stemming, pressing, or pulping. Dry-harvested fruit is gathered with mechanical combs, reserved primarily for fresh retail sales or whole IQF berry processing.
Brothers International partners with origin processors who cold-press or pulp cranberries under precise thermal conditions to capture natural Type-A PACs and vivid red pigmentation while controlling natural tannin extraction.
Global Sourcing Through the Brothers International Network:
Cranberry vines demand specialized acidic bog soils (pH 4.0 to 5.0), abundant fresh water for flooding, and distinct winter dormancy. Because cranberry crops can be severely impacted by late-spring vine frosts, extreme summer heat, and autumn harvesting rain storms, securing a multi-quarter industrial supply requires geographic diversification across major growing belts. Brothers International connects North American procurement managers to premier cranberry regions through our audited network of supplier partners.
We source high-grade cranberry ingredients from leading agricultural hubs:
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North America (United States): Wisconsin is the world’s largest producing region, accounting for over half of global supply, followed by Massachusetts (the historic home of American cranberry farming), New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington.
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North America (Canada): Quebec and British Columbia represent massive global sourcing hubs, with Quebec leading the world in USDA Organic cranberry production, offering pristine organic NFC juices, purees, and concentrates.
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South America (Chile): Southern Chile serves as a critical counter-seasonal processing hub, producing high-grade cranberry concentrates and purees during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring and summer.
By coordinating supply across the U.S., Canada, and Chile, Brothers International insulates your manufacturing facility against localized weather anomalies, crop shortfalls, and price volatility.
Harvest Cycles & Continuous Supply Management:
In the Northern Hemisphere (USA and Canada), the primary cranberry harvest runs from mid-September through November. In the Southern Hemisphere (Chile), harvesting occurs counter-seasonally from March through May. Because raw cranberries possess a firm outer skin and natural benzoic acid preservatives, harvested fruit can be held in cold storage or flash-frozen prior to processing.
Managing these counter-seasonal production calendars and international shipping routes is a core competency of Brothers International. Our operations and logistics teams oversee multi-quarter inventory allocations, cold-chain maritime transport, USDA/FDA import clearances, C-TPAT supply chain security, and strategic cold-storage warehousing across North America. Whether your facility requires frozen single-strength NFC juice in pails, 50° Brix clarified concentrate in drums, or 25° Brix puree concentrate in bulk totes, our network guarantees ready inventory year-round.
Rigorous Quality Control, Traceability & Compliance:
Processing cranberry ingredients demands strict control over titratable acidity, PAC standardization, de-pectinization, and color stability. Every supplier within the Brothers International network undergoes a comprehensive auditing process to guarantee complete supply chain traceability, sustainable water management, fair labor standards, and strict compliance with USDA, FDA, and international food safety standards.
Through our network, we deliver cranberry ingredients backed by complete technical documentation and top-tier industry certifications, including GFSI benchmarks (BRC, SQF, FSSC 22000), USDA Organic (NOP), Kosher, Non-GMO, and Halal standards. Our quality assurance protocols include testing for pesticide residues, heavy metals, microbiological safety, titratable acidity, Type-A PAC content, anthocyanin color absorbance, and Brix adherence under FDA 21 CFR § 101.30.
The Brothers International
Quality Promise
Brothers International and its 4 divisions, Brothers Ingredients, Dennick Fruit Source, Hosh International and Food Partners, are trusted global importers of premium ingredients to major food and beverage manufacturers in North America. We deliver consistent quality and supply across every format the industry demands. Our Cranberry is sourced from the earth’s prime growing regions where farming expertise, climate and soil composition come together to produce Cranberry of exceptional caliber. All of our suppliers undergo a rigorous vetting process to ensure we work with only the highest-quality processors and can fully guarantee traceability, sustainability, and compliance with all international regulations.
Each of our divisions has a specialized operations team to manage shipments and coordinate with customers and suppliers. They work closely with our in-house customs team to ensure efficient clearance, and collaborate with the USDA and FDA to maintain full regulatory compliance. This ensures your ingredients move seamlessly through every stage of import, arriving on time and ready for production with complete confidence. With decades of sourcing expertise and a strong commitment to customer success, you can count on Brothers International to deliver the premium ingredients your products require.
Industry Glossary
A Reference Guide for Fruit Ingredient Terminology
Check out our glossary for a consolidated reference of commonly used terminology across the global fruit ingredient industry. It provides straightforward definitions and context for the language and concepts referenced throughout the industry.
