Cranberry sauce or cranberry jelly?

Does cranberry jelly—yes, yes, the one in a can you buy at the grocery store—with your Christmas turkey bring back memories? It’s still a tradition in many families, and because people are doing more home cooking nowadays, many try their hand at making their own cranberry sauce. The recipe is quite simple, actually: water, sugar, honey and fresh cranberries. Leave it to simmer in a saucepan for about 15 minutes, and you’re good to go. Would you like to give a try?

Cranberries, also known as “atoka” in Quebec (a word borrowed from the Iroquois language), are small, red tart fruits, grown in natural bogs. They are primarily produced in North America: the state of Wisconsin in the United States is the world’s largest producer, followed by Canada, where Quebec is the leading producer.

In 2021, Quebec farms accounted for 4,645 hectares of cranberry crops, up from 4,002 hectares in 2016. The province’s share of national cranberry crops also increased during that period. In Canada, 229 operations accounted for 7,950 hectares for a total production of 155,064 tonnes of cranberries in 2021.

Let’s talk organic

Cranberries aren’t only enjoyed in sauce: they can be consumed fresh, dried, frozen or as juice. Rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, cranberries enhance happy-hour cocktails (think of the cosmopolitan), and they can be added to muffins, to nut mixes that give athletes a boost of energy to face the toughest trails, or to colourful summer salads, to name just a few.

So, do you buy regular or organic? For environmental and health issues, consumers are increasingly turning to organic foods, including fruit... and cranberries. In 2021, the total cultivated area of certified organic fruit in Canada remained constant (+0.5% to 14,281 hectares) compared with a year earlier.

However, fruit bearing area decreased 6.8% to 8,390 hectares, and the farm-gate value of certified organic fruit fell 3.6% to $98.1 million in 2021. This decline is attributable to a 25.5% drop in the farm-gate value of certified organic blueberries, to $22.3 million.

However, increases were observed for certified organic strawberries (+55.6% to $3.3 million) and certified organic grapes (+16.2% to $8.2 million). Quebec had the largest share of organic fruit cultivated area (82.8%), followed by British Columbia (9.8%) and Ontario (5.7%).

In Quebec, organic fruit bearing area decreased 8.7% compared with 2020 because of a reduction in the cultivated area of cranberries (-20.3%) and blueberries (-8.8%). Cultivated area of organic cranberries fell 20.5% from 2020 to 2021, causing production to decline 19.7% to 23.8 million kilograms.

This holiday season, why not give this little local fruit as a gift? Who wouldn’t love to find a bar of dark chocolate with cranberries in their stocking?