20 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 173. 



Table VII. — Percentages of Total Cost per Quart of Wholesale and Retail 

 Milk (80 Plants), by Size or Character of Business. 



Percentage Analysis of Costs. 



The cost analj'sis presented in Table VIII shows the importance of labor 

 both in processing and delivery, although the percentual importance varies 

 greatly with the size of the business. The labor item differs also in the 

 major processes of distribution. The relative importance of the labor item 

 in the fourth group is the striking feature — 70 per cent, of the processing 

 expense as contrasted with a maximum of 59 per cent, and a minimum of 

 46§ per cent, in the other groups. The labor factor in delivery costs is 

 more uniform but even here the labor item in the fourth group reaches 

 the maximum — 61.9 per cent. 



It is significant that the labor item in preparation is lowest in the third 

 and the all-retail groups, although the third group shows an actual proc- 

 essing cost of .45 cents, and the all-retail a co.st of .90 cents per quart. 



The principal point of emphasis in the overhead analj^sis, aside from 

 the notable variation in the importance of the various items, is the high 

 percentage of shrinkage and spoilage in the "over 2,000" group. Bad 

 accounts average more than one-eighth of the overhead and, curiously 

 enough, are percentually highest in Groups I and II, wliich show the 

 lowest actual overhead. The interest item, of course, varies with the 

 investment. Its percentual importance averages from about 9 per cent, 

 in Group I, to 26.3 per cent, (three times as much) in the all-retail group. 



