

COMPOSITION OF 

 CANNED PACK 3 



Figure 2. 



consumer ratio is eight to one in favor of 

 the domestic pack, while in the South the 

 ratio is a whopping 86 to 1. 



The distribution method for canned 

 tuna is identical with that of most other 

 canned food items and can be broken down 

 into four basic subfunctions: distribu- 

 tion, warehousing, wholesaling and retail- 

 ing. Normally, the first distributive 

 step is the movement of the merchandise 

 from the processor to the field warehouse. 

 About 12 percent of the total California 

 tuna production is transported by truck 

 — primarily to the Pacific Coast and Moun- 

 tain States; about 13 percent is moved by 

 water — primarily to the Atlantic Coast 

 and important New England markets; and the 

 remaining 75 percent is shipped by rail 

 — to the major markets throughout the 

 country. Incidentally, the Bureau cur- 

 rently has a contract study under way with 

 the Bureau of the Census which should 

 give us some very good information on the 

 distribution pattern of canned fish from 

 the packer's warehouse to the point in the 

 field where title first changes. 



Of the three primary costs, distribu- 

 tion takes a smaller share of the consumer 

 dollar than does production or processing. 

 Warehousing is now done largely by the 

 processor at his expense in field ware- 

 houses throughout the country. This 

 method becomes necessary for quick ship- 

 ments in volume to wholesalers as a 

 result of the practice of reducing inven- 

 tory by wholesalers and food chain 

 warehouses. From the processor's field 

 warehouse stock, and after sale by the 



broker, the goods come into possession of 

 a wholesale distributor or some similar 

 organization. The final sale in the 

 process from raw material to the consumer 

 is made by the retailer, and now, in theory 

 at least, every one in production, process- 

 ing and distribution, from the fisherman 

 to the retail stock boy, can be paid for 

 his services as Mrs. Housewife passes 

 through the check-out counter. 



USAGE PATTERNS 



But, let us examine some of the con- 

 ditions that determine the level of tuna 

 usage. For instance — the size of the 

 household, family income and geographical 

 location. These factors all have a direct 

 effect upon the sales pattern. The Bureau 

 is currently subscribing to the monthly 

 Market Research Corporation of American 

 Consumer Panel Service, and, on the basis 

 of the first six months of study, we will 

 soon have some very reliable and pertinent 

 information with respect to such socio- 

 economic factors as city size, location 

 of the consumer, family income, size of 

 the family, employment status of the house- 

 wife, and presence of children by age 

 group. In the meantime, however, and un- 

 til this information becomes available, we 

 have had to depend upon miscellaneous sur- 

 veys conducted by the Bureau and by other 

 government and industrial organizations 

 to try to develop some type of a picture 

 of who buys canned tuna. 



Naturally, the number of persons in a 

 household is an item of considerable im- 

 portance. During a 1955 survey (Household 

 Food Consumption Survey 1956) conducted 

 for the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture by a nationally prominent market 

 research organization, it was learned 

 that households consisting of one person 

 are normally poor tuna users, but in 

 households of two or more persons the 

 rate of use increases substantially. On 

 a national basis only 9.h percent of the 

 households of one person used tuna, 

 whereas in homes of two or more persons 

 the percentage was 22.5 percent. This 

 varied by region, of course. In the 

 New England area 15-3 percent of one- 

 person households and almost 30 percent 

 of two or more used canned tuna, where- 

 as in the West the numbers were 8.8 

 and 33.1 respectively. 



88 



