Cranberries prefer cold winters and plenty of rain. Unusually warm winter and a summer drought in many parts of the U.S. and Canada hurt the crop now being harvested. Canned sauce, bottled juice and
dried cranberry snacks will be available, but prices are expected to rise. As for fresh cranberries, "we won't have any left for Christmas," predicts Robert Keane, a spokesman for Stop & Shop.
Cranberries can now be found in more than 2,000 products from muffin mix to soap. U.S. unit sales of dried cranberries--which are used to make snacks and as ingredients in other foods--rose nearly 20% in 2006, according to Information Resources Inc.
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