ONION SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION. 



113 



Distribution Routes. 



Onions shipped from the valley may reach the consumer through a num- 

 ber of different channels. It is our purpose to point out only the routes 

 which the great bulk of onions takes, and 

 to note the general spread of price from 

 the producer to the ultimate consumer. 



Heavy delivery charges and extra ex- 

 pense in the handling and packing of 

 small quantities account for the fact that 

 comparatively few sales are made directly 

 from the producer to the consumer. 

 There are, however, a considerable num- 

 ber of sales made directly to the large 

 retailer, but such sales are usually in 

 quantities less than carload lots. 



The vast quantity of onions to be 

 moved and the limited time in which to 

 move them has brought into use our 

 rather complex process of handling them 

 through a chain of marketing specialists. 

 The principal line is from producer to 

 local dealer, to car-lot wholesaler, to 

 jobber, to retailer, to consumer. Another 

 is from producer to local dealer, to 

 broker, to car-lot wholesaler, to jobber, 

 to retailer, to consumer. In Fig. 37 an 

 attempt has been made to show the prin- 

 cipal onion-distributing channels. The 

 interlocking circles are employed to show 

 the rather intimate relations which exist 

 between certain agencies connected with 

 distribution; that is to say, certain firms 

 perform the functions of two or three 

 agencies. For example, firms may oper- 

 ate as commission men, car-lot whole- "'♦i" ristnoutirn cnunneis for omonai 



Salers and brokers in such a way as to Fia. 37. — Main distributing channels 



make it difficult to assign them to any f°^ "'^io'^s- The interlocking circles 



. • 1 11 are used to represent the close relation 



dehnite class of middlemen. existing between certain distributing 



agencies. The heavy line shows that 

 n 7 T\- J •! 1- the bulk of the crop goes from grower 



Secondary Distribution. ^^ i^^^i ^^^^^^^ ,„ ^^^.,^, wholesaler. 



Primary distribution comprises the to jobber, to retailer, 

 agencies engaged in the movement of 



onions from the farm to the wholesale receiver in the terminal market. 

 Secondary distribution concerns itself with the distribution of onions 

 from the time they reach the wholesaler's hands until they reach the 



