April, Ip20 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 13 



Problems in Marketing Northwest Prunes 



A Criticism, But Not A Knock 



Editor Better Fruit: 



STATEMENTS have been appearing 

 in the press of late in regard to 

 the uncertainty of marketing Oregon 

 prunes and also that reports from the 

 East are to the effect that California 

 prunes are selling for 3 cents a pound 

 more than the Italian variety grown 

 in Oregon and Washington. I wish, 

 therefore to say a few words about the 

 marketing of Northwest prunes and al- 

 though prune men in this section may 

 not take kindly to what I say I assure 

 you that my interest in the prune in- 

 dustry of the Northwest is sincere from 

 a standpoint of pride as well as because 

 of the financial phase; nor do I want 

 to appear pessimistic, but there are 

 some plain facts that should be known 

 to every prune grower and packer in 

 Oregon and Washington. 



There was no mistake made in plant- 

 ing prune orchards as a commercial 

 industry nor was it a mistake in plant- 

 ing the variety that prevails in the 

 Northwest, but there has been a con- 

 tinual disregard of care in curing and 

 preparing for the market. 



^^Tlen our orchards first began to 

 bear in quantities for other markets, 

 packing facilities were limited; knowl- 

 edge of how to handle them was lack- 

 ing, so they were graded, put into sacks 

 and forwarded East. 



The very nature of the Italian prune 

 is such that it is impossible to handle it 

 with any degree of satisfaction and 

 safety in bags. This fact was soon 

 discovered by the buyer after sustain- 

 ing some substantial losses from re- 

 jections. Sales were hard to make. The 

 growers took a hand in shipping them- 

 .selves, but finding in some instances 

 that they were called on to pay freight, 

 aside from losing their fruit, they too 

 were sorely disappointed. Something 

 had to be done — so the method of pro- 

 cessing was adopted; packing them in 

 25 and 50 pound boxes, eliminating 

 almost entirely shipping in sacks. Since 

 that time, which dates back about 15 

 years, some progress has been made but 

 we are far short yet of marketing a 

 satisfactory, safe pack of prunes. 



The nature of the Italian prune is 

 such that it nnist be processed in order 

 to assure the dealer a commercial pack- 

 age that he can handle safely and a 

 product that the consumer will buy. 



I am not going to tell you how to dry 

 prunes, because I don't know, but I 

 do know that there has been a large 

 tonnage of inferior prunes put on the 

 market each year. Lots of them should 

 have been condemned and destroyed. 

 No one has the right to pick up and 

 dry decayed prunes; some that have 

 split and the cracks full of mould; 

 others that have decayed from over- 

 ripeness. Such fruit is positively unfit 

 for food. The consumer does not know 

 it, as its defects are covered up in the 

 process of drying. It is even difficult 

 for the packer to detect the imperfec- 

 tions; probably some packers do not 

 look for llieni, so they are bought, 



packed and shipped East and to Europe. 

 Frequently they look all right when 

 they arrive. 



When under-cured and over-pro- 

 cessed fruit starts up fermentation or 

 mould, lots of it spoils on the dealer's 

 hands and it is sold at reduced prices 

 to the consumer. It is positively unfit 

 to eat and is not liked and many times 

 no reason is given for this dislike. Nor 

 does the consumer actually know what 

 is wrong, but I assure you that a trial 

 of such fruit is enough. I will match 

 with big odds an Italian prune against 

 any other food product, either dried or 

 in cans, for covering up its dirt, imper- 

 fections and filth. I can take a sound, 

 properly cured prune and put it by the 

 side of one that is partially decayed 

 and dried and one looks about as good 

 as the other, but cook them and try 



them out by taste and the difFerence 

 is noticeable — distinctly so. One is 

 either rancid or sour and very repul- 

 sive, while the other has a sweet tart 

 taste and is the most delicious dried 

 fruit to be had. A well cured, well 

 cooked Italian Prune served in its juice 

 or with cream is in a class of its own — ■ 

 nothing to compare with it in the dried 

 fruit line. 



I wish every one of you could have 

 been with me on a trip East recently, 

 when I called on the jobbing trade in 

 nearly every large commercial center. A 

 portion of my time was given to inves- 

 tigating the situation as to Oregon and 

 Washington prunes. I was more than 

 disappointed; in fact, greatly humili- 

 ated — there were several thousand 

 boxes of the previous year's crop in the 

 New York market. They had rotted 

 and moulded and had been worked over 

 and were selling at 50 to 75 cents per 

 box of 25 pounds. "Oregon prunes have 



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