-lo- 

 in sh )rt \:o have made a liidng tho easiest ivay and yet some of our growers 

 havo f')und that it pays tu do a fancy job, 



S jnic -)f the factors leading t) )ur p->or merchandising are: (1) 

 Many individual gr'.ji/ors and many small units of production, each packing 

 his ovm way. (2) The crate was a depression package t  neet l^jw buying 

 power and v;aG continued during tho war because we could sell our apples, 

 onyivay and couldn't got help to pack otherwise. (5) Our p -jror grades 

 have 3 jld as fresh fruit because v;e lack a well developed by-products 

 industry. Our costs of packing and shipping have been relatively low and 

 \vs could get more f'T p >or fruit on the fresh fruit inarket than elsewhere. 



(4) Our principal tree fruit, the Mcintosh apple bruises more easily than 

 any 'jther variety^ and yet v;o and all other handlers have treated them like 

 any othor apple, or in many cases like citrus fruits, potatoes .^r mions, 



(5) Many ^of our good grnvers have c:>nsidered their job done v/hen they 

 have gro;Yn clean fruit, put it in a crate and trucked it to market. How 

 aaiazod many of us have been to see the apples (virhich we thought v;ore 

 pretty go-id v/hen wo shipped them) displayed in a bin in a hit store, NoviT 

 the v;ar is over and it is time to take stock of our prosent situation. 



Competition for the consumer's fruit dollar is getting stiff er. 

 Distant apple producing areas are after our market. They have to pack 

 and grade well in order to pay their freight bill. Citrus is, and will 

 be plentiful, clioap and good. This industry is largely under state or 

 large cooperative control coid vrill not be permitted to ship junk, Bojianas 

 and may other fruits \.'ill become increasingly plentiful, Customirs can 

 nov; spend their noney fcr raany things besides food. If a new car is being 

 paid for, loss fruit may be b0U(__,ht, There has been a strong trend toward 

 self-service stores, Thsso stores are apparently here to stay. If they 

 are to sell applos tho product will havo to bo graded and packaged like 

 practically everything else in these super markets whstter it be fruit 

 or flour, onions or oatmeal. 



V.'hat shall v-iq do about these trends? 'i.o can 'let things rido' 

 until competition forces or starves us into doing a bettor j )b . Y.'e ctin 

 promote stringent packing and grading lav/s. Y.'e can raise a fund, state 

 supp>>rted or private, to promote the apples as we n'O^-v sell them on a 

 state loyalty basis, V/e can blame tno chain cuid independent stores for 

 bruising our beautiful apples, and lose their good will, \lc can ask the 

 U, S, Government to buy our culls for school lunches, aaid lose the 

 confidence of our best customers, tho kids, Yle ci\n. publish a report, 

 stating h'0;.v much better V.'ashington L'tato apples arc pac'ced than ours, 

 and ask 'why d ai't wo do the scane', Yie ciai as): for more research on more 

 and bettor products from our 1 av grade apples v:hich will return us a 

 reasonable price and strengthen our fresh fruit markot, "tVo can request 

 more inspectors t'j enforce our present grading laws, when used, YIo can 

 support the Apple Institute so it crci enlarge promotional and store contact 

 work, ■'iiVe caii arrange grower tjid trade meetings to discuss grading, packing, 

 and handling read wo can pranote st >ro do'jr delivory. 



