STORAGE 



Nation-wide storage i'acilities for canned tuna are adequate ac- 

 cording to available information furnished by the Office of Price 

 Stabilization in December 1952- There does not appear to be any pro- 

 blerai on the part of wholesale grocers and other large lot receivers, 

 that handle canned tuna, in providing storage space for their pur- 

 chases. The tuna packers, who store canned tuna in various centers 

 of distribution so as to tiave stocks available for quick delivery, 

 have voiced no complaint with respect to storage space shortages. 



Storage charges in commercial warehouses were ranging from 5 

 to 7 cents per hundrediveight in December, 1952, equaling approxi- 

 mately 1-1/2 cents per case of canned tuna stored for a one month 

 period. This is but a small fraction of the retail price of canned 

 tuna. Since top Office of Price Stabilization ceilings were being 

 charged pretty much over the entire country the question could be 

 raised as to whether storage charges are "reasonable". Certainly, 

 from the standpoint of the owners of the storage facilities the ceil- 

 ings are ■dog low, and therefore, charges are "unreasonable", and 

 from the standpoint of those who pay the storage costs they are 

 either "reasonable" as they exist or "unreasonably" high. In other 

 words, the "reasonableness" of storage costs depends on who is doing 

 the estimating. 



It would appear, from a consumer standpoint that so long as 

 storage costs are as indicated a very small fraction of the retail 

 price per can of tuna and the storage function is being handled ex- 

 peditiously, then the storage charges are "reasonable". Certainly 

 storage costs like primary transportation costs do not act to sig- 

 nificantly increase the consumer pirLce for canned tuna. 



Marketing 

 WHOLESALING AND RETAILING 



After the transportation agency brings canned tuna from the 

 processor's plant to the buyer's warehouse, a public warehouse, or 

 other delivery point, the wholesaler or ]arge lot receiver next 

 physically hanidles the product and next after him the retailer. The 

 wholesaler or chain store warehouse department's main function is 



381 



