Squeezing the most out of Ocean Spray’s annual cranberry harvest has been Steve Nojeim’s task for the past 29 years.

A Marion resident and research fellow for the grower-owned cooperative, Nojeim has developed a variety of products as a member of the company’s research and development department.

In Massachusetts, the cranberry harvest winds down by mid-November. This year, Ocean Spray predicts that seven million barrels of berries will be harvested by its 750 plus growers across North America. From White Cranberry Juice Drink first launched in 2001 to a brand new enhanced water beverage rolled out six months ago, Nojeim has helped transform cranberries into products sold around the world.

“I’m part of a team that invents products,” he said.

Nojeim moved to town 15 years ago with his wife and daughter when his employer moved headquarters from Plymouth to a property in Lakeville and Middleboro.

Originally, the food scientist wanted to become a dentist.

A long distance runner at the time, Nojeim said he was interested in how nutrition affected his performance.

“I heard about food science as a kind of combination of chemistry, biology and nutrition, and it sounded intriguing,” he said.

After spending time working alongside graduate students in the field, he pursued the new career path.

“I forgot about dental school,” he said.

While at Ocean Spray, he’s had a hand in successful product launches. But not every idea leaves the laboratory.

“I have a notebook that I call ‘ideas before their time,’” Nojeim said. “Let’s just say we keep documents of everything we work on and sometimes they’re not ready for prime time.”

One product that is ready, PACt Cranberry Extract Water, has been in development for four years.

Launched nationally six months ago, Nojeim said the drink is Ocean Spray’s foray into a booming enhanced water market.

“This is one of the few cases where the technology came before the marketing idea,” he said, explaining that his team isolated proanthocyanidins, an organic chemical with health benefits, found in cranberries.

The compound is added to water, along with natural sweeteners.

“What the team and I have done is figure out what components are responsible for the health benefits of cranberries, extract and then isolate those so we can add them to products without the sugar and acid that come along with the cranberry,” he said.

PACt joins a long list of new products the company has put out, starting with its Cran-Apple juice blend in 1963.

Over the years, the company’s product line has been diversified with diet drinks and juice blends.

Consumer health has also been a focus in recent years.

“It’s safe to assume that Ocean Spray, like other beverage companies, is concerned about sugar and reducing sugar in our products,” he said. “Another part of my job is to help figure out how to do that.”

One - though unlikely - possibility is to breed a new variety less tart cranberries.

“Would we love to have a cranberry that you could pop in your mouth and eat like a grape?” Nojeim said. “Yes, of course we would.”

Until that day comes, cranberry connoisseurs can pour a glass and wait to see what will hit the shelves next.