US cranberry co-op Ocean Spray is working with Plug and Play, a venture capital firm, to drive strategic and innovative growth.
The co-op will use Plus and Play’s start-up innovation team, with projects including the design of bespoke strategies to drive optimisation across Ocean Spray’s businesses.
“As a nearly 90-year-old brand, it is paramount for our co-operative to relentlessly drive cutting-edge innovation and to quickly and effectively tackle business challenges so that we accelerate Ocean Spray’s evolution toward health and wellness,” said 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.”
Plug and Play was among the first to invest in some of the most successful tech companies in the world, including Google, PlayPal and Dropbox. Last year the company accelerated 1,107 start-ups.
“We need dedicated partners who are open to new start-up innovation,” said Michael Olmstead, CRO of Plug and Play. “This willingness to transform will help not only their businesses, but entire industries.
“Partnering with Ocean Spray provides opportunities to connect our start-ups to a distinguished company so they can revolutionise the market. We are proud to welcome them into our ecosystem.”
