This difference is attributable to a greater concentration of population in 

 Areas 3 and 5, which tends to mean more producer-processors and other 

 retailer-oriented types. 



If we eliminate the effects of these 160 very small units, and consider 

 the remaining three categories, comparing small vs. medium and large units, 

 Areas 2 and 5 are typified by more medium and large units than Areas 3, 

 4, and 6. In these three areas, as well as in central Maine, the small units 

 are definitely oriented toward fowl and heavy young chickens. In Area 3, 

 even the medium and large plants are oriented toward fowl to a greater 

 degree than elsewhere. 



Types of Units 



Definite relationships exist between area characteristics and relative num- 

 l>ers of different types of processing units. Near larger cities, as well as in 

 non-commercial areas and in areas where egg production is important, 

 many producers slaughter for the local retail and jobbing trade. In highly- 

 commercialized and surplus regions like Areas 2 and 5, where commercial 

 meat chickens dominate the supply picture, producer-processors were rela- 

 tively fewer in number than in certain other areas. In Area 1, which is 

 lemote and non-commercial, most processors were either producers or former 

 producers engaged in small-scale processing. In Areas 4 and 6, where resi- 

 dent populations are large, many producers seek to take advantage of the 

 excellent opportunities for retail selling. In these areas, as in Area 3, as 

 previously noted, many of these producer-processors are seeking retail out- 

 lets for cull fowl and heavier classes of chickens, primarily from egg 

 enterprises. 



Poultry and egg stores, and to some extent live buyers, cater to the 

 Kosher trade and to other ethnic groups wishing to purchase or select live 

 birds at the point of slaughter. These types of processors tend to be most 

 numerous in heavily-populated areas. Urbanization, zoning, and changing 

 consumer habits have contributed to a decline in the number of poultry 

 and egg stores which slaughter. The effects of zoning are particularly evi- 

 dent in towns near Boston. Many of the remaining units still eviscerate on 

 the premises. 



Included in the "other" category in Table 5 are live buyers, locker plants, 

 retail food stores, restaurants, and custom processors who slaughter and/or 

 eviscerate. Not included are many specialized poultry stores in retail 

 shopping centers and a large number of stands and restaurants preparing 

 birds for sale in cut-up, barbecued, or cooked form. 



The "processor" group includes a dwindling number of city establish- 

 ments which supply slaughtered and/or eviscerated poultry to poultry and 

 egg stores (Kosher and non-Kosher) and other types of enterprises which 

 are oriented toward retail selling. Also included aie various sizes of country 

 plants. 



Of the 204 slaughtering establishments contacted during the survey, 152 

 were producers, poultry and egg stores, or "other" types. These plants 

 handled only 2 percent of the total volume handled by all plants. While 

 secondary data indicate the survey under-enumerated such units, the ad- 

 justed data in Appendix Table III indicate that 217 sucii units out of a 

 total of 269 (or 81 percent) probably handle less than 3 percent of total 

 volume slaughtered in the sample areas. Thus, the 52 establishments classi- 

 fied as primarily processors would account for more than 97 percent of 

 slaughter. 



20 



