346 



MARINE FISHERIES OF NORTH CAROLINA 



obvious that the cost of distribution of fish is proportionately far more than 

 it is for agricultural products, and that the fisherman receives a smaller 

 share of the consumer's dollar spent for fish than the farmer does for each 

 dollar spent for farm foods, and, as shown in the table, the farmer's share 

 has tended downward. If the farmer's percentage for pork (40.3 per cent 



RETAIL VALUE 



DOLLARS 

 (BILLIONS) 



PROCESSIMG 



AND 



LOCAL 



ASSEMBLY 



3.0 



PAID TO 



> MARKETING ^ 



GENCIES 



PERCENTAGE OF CONSUMER'S DOLLAR 



— r 



TRANSP. 

 21.8 



WHOLE- 

 SALINS 

 12.7 



RETAILING 

 19.3 



• 'AGRICULTURAL SITUATION'. APRIL 1941, P. 2» 



' 'AGRICULTURAL INCOME INQUIRY' OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. 1917 



Fig. 2. BREAKDOWN OF FARM-TO-RETAIL PRICE SPREADS BY MARKETING 



FUNCTIONS 



The proportion of the consumers' dollar represented by the charges for processing, transporting, 

 wholesaling, and retailing food products varies widely, depending on the type of the product. 

 For most food products the retail margin is the largest single element of the marketing spread, 

 though this does not necessarily mean that retailing is done less efficiently than the other functions 

 of food processing and distribution. 



of the retail price) were applied to fish, then the retail selling price for all 

 fish and for certain species would be shown as in Table 8. 



Without statistical data on fish, we know that fish did not sell at retail 

 for any such prices in 1940. Freight, express, ice, containers, etc., would 

 consume most if not all the margin. These charges, as well as other over- 

 head, being based on weight and not on value would in any event be greater 

 percentagewise on cheaper goods. 



In the attempt to check the above showing quantitatively, we have ex- 

 amined some of the current newspaper advertising of food stores in New 

 York City and in North Carolina. They clearly show that extensive market 

 research is needed before quantitative comparison can be made, since the 

 net edible portions of fish and meats respectively cannot be ascertained 



