Markets for Strawberries 



One of the problems in shipping late strawberries to markets to the south 

 is that of having enough volume to make full refrigerated truck shipments. 

 If berries are sufficiently high in price, consideration may be given to ship- 

 ment in refrigerated cases by truck, rail, or plane. Such a shipping case has 

 been developed in California.* It carries four trays of berries and the top 

 tray is used for dry ice. The temperature rise was held to 10° F in 24 hours 

 with 13 pounds of dry ice. As little as seven pounds was used for overnight 

 plane shipments. 



Problems in Selling to Chain Stores 



Many chain stores buy part of their strawberry supply locally. As the 

 season advances, berries come in from Cape Cod or areas to the south of 

 IVew Hampshire. At the time local berries start, prices of shipped-in berries 

 are lower, and the quality is usually not as good. Both types of berries may 

 te available in the store at the same time. Since the local berries will usually 

 out-sell the shipped-in berries, the former may be held back in order to 

 move supplies on hand and those being sent in from the warehouses. If they 

 are put on sale at the same time, a price differential should be made or the 

 shipped-in berries will move too slowly and losses result. But if prices have 

 been advertised, the chain store manager may not wish to sell at two differ- 

 ent prices. In such cases the local berries may be sold on a very narrow 

 margin or be held back, at least until the poorer berries are moved. 



The local supply at the beginning may be too small to meet the need 

 of large markets. Since Boston prices at the beginning of our season may 

 be out of line with our local prices and since chain store managers may at- 

 tempt to buy at Boston quotations and/or sell at advertised prices, difficulty 

 may be experienced in arriving at a satisfactory price with the grower. The 

 competition with Cape Cod berries is much greater in some seasons than 

 others. 



Processing Strawberries 



A market outlet to processors is important in marketing such a highly 

 perishable product as strawberries. A few growers sold to processors at 25 

 cents per quart in 1950 and at 22 cents in 1951. Locker plants could freeze 

 surpluses, but a considerable investment needs to be made in equipment if 

 low costs in handling are to be realized. A capping machine and a slicer 

 would need to be used, but a considerable volume would be required to 

 justify the expense of purchasing and installing the necessary equipment. 



The Sparkle strawberry is an excellent one for freezing, but it does not 

 cap very well in the capping machine. It appears that a combination of 

 qualities, namely, ease of capping, flavor, texture, and color are needed in 

 one variety. 



Use of Strawberries by Locker Plants 



Some of the freezer locker plants in the state have frozen strawberries 

 for sale. A questionnaire was sent to all freezer plants and some ice cream 



''Described by W. R. Barger, Bureau of Plant Industry and Agricultural Engineer- 

 ing, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Fresno, Calif., in November, 1950, issue Modern 

 Packaging Magazine. 



17 



