FRUIT AMD VEGETABLE 



RKETIN 



By A. B, Leeper 



THE methods of selling and 

 distributing fruits and vegC' 

 tables have changed rapidly in 

 recent years. Some of the causes 

 of these changes are : 



I. Improvements in means of 

 ' transportation, 

 a. Increased use of fruits and 

 vegetables in the daily diet 

 : of most people. 



for sale and distribution have been organised. 

 The Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange, 

 which is a central sales agency, was organ' 

 ized in 1921. This organization has con- 

 fined its eflForts principally toward the 

 development of standardized products and 

 to the estabhshment of brands, together 

 with the sale and distribution of carlots 

 of fruits and vegetables for its members. 



EHiring the past year, the Illinois Fruit 

 Growers Exchange and its member associa' 



ILLINOIS Brand Prnxhu Crown by Mtmbtrto/th* lUirxoit 

 Fruit CrowttM Exchangt art ih* Btu m tht World. r 



Her* is one of the Many Cooperative Road- 

 Side Markets where Illinois Grown Fruit and 

 Vegetables were sold last year. 



Apples at State 

 Meeting. 



Horticultural 



3. Changed living conditions in the 

 modem city home. 



4. Availability of fresh fruits and vegetables sup' 

 plied from every section of the country at all 

 times of the year. 



5. The development of chain stores. 



j Two General Groups 



rl actual practice the marketing of fruits and vegetables is 

 divided into two general groups. One of these groups consists 

 of growers who sell these products locally. The other group of 

 growers depend upon selling their crops in distant markets. The 

 group that produces crops to sell locally has three principal meth' 

 ods of selling, namely: 



I . Selling on the farm where the crop is produced. 



a. Selling in nearby markets. 



3. Selling near the place of production in roadside markets. 



Very little has been done in cooperative selling by these grow- 

 ers who produce only for local trade. Several of the Farm Bureaus 

 have estabUshcd central markets where the members cooperate 

 in paying the overhead expenses. The growers bring their prod' 

 ucts to these markets on certain days and generally sell directly 

 to the consumers. 



Illinois Fruit Growers Exchange 



IT is with the group of growers who produce fruit and vegetable 

 crops to sell in distant markets that cooperative organizations 



A. B. Leeper, Director Fruit and 

 Vegetable Marketing for the I. 

 A. A. 



f 



tions sold approximately 1000 can of fruits and Tcgc- 

 tables. Of this number 675 straight carload lots were 

 sold through the central office at Centralia. The others 



were sold to trucks which came to the packing sheds or were shipped in len- 



than-carlou by freight and express. 



Roadside Market Chain 



THE increased use of trucks and the completion of the Illinois hard road 

 system have developed a factor in marketing of fruits and vegetables 

 that was unforeseen a few years ago. In 1928 a group of growers, desirini 

 to take advantage of this new method of transportation, organized the Illinois 

 Growers' Marketing Association, to sell cooperatively through a system of 

 roadside markeu. The plan is for growers of fruits and vegetables in one 

 section of the state to cooperate with growers in other sections who grow 

 commodities that are not produced locally, and sell their producu by way of 

 the roadside markets. 



Given Trial Last Year 1 



THIS plan was given a trial last year. A number of markets were estab- 

 lished in the central and northern parts of the state to aid the growers 

 of tree fruits in other sections to dispose of their products. The sales of 

 some of these markets were satisfactory. On others they were not. The 

 experience indicates that if this type of marketing is to succeed, local growers 

 where the markets are established must cooperate and support them. It is 

 contemplated that this system of marketing will be continued and extended 

 during the coming year. Care will be taken in selecting sites and markets 

 will be established only where local growers are willing to cooperate in fur- 

 nishing a supply of home-grown products for sale. The extent of expansion 

 will depend upon the demand of growers for this form of marketing. 



It is also part of the I. A. A. program for the coming year to further 

 increase the membership of the Exchange in sections where fruits and vege- 

 tables are grown for carlot shipment. This will be done with a yiew of 

 developing a stronger central organization so that if the Federal Farm Board 

 desires to recommend the organization of a national association for the dis- 

 tribution of fruits and vegetables, Illinois will be in a position to cooperate 

 in the larger movement. 



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