the per capita consumption of fresh citrus fell ahout 25 percent as the 

 frozen product replaced the fresh. This indicates that there has been a 

 substitution of the new product for I)oth fresh citrus and apples. 



There is additional evidence that indicates citrus fruits are apples' 

 major competitor on the fresh market. Apples and citrus are among the 

 few fresh fruits with a marketing season starting late in the fall and ex- 

 tending through the winter months. Most other fresh fruits reach a 

 peak in market volume during the late summer and early fall as shown 

 in Chart 8. This is due to physical factors relating to the harvest dates 

 of most deciduous fruits and their storing qualities in the fresh form. 

 Most deciduous fruits are harvested during July and August and be- 

 cause of their perishable nature nuist be consumed (in the fresh form) 

 within a short time.--' These fruits, therefore, are not serious competi- 

 tors of apples as far as a time schedule of marketings is concerned. The 

 only fresh fruit imported in large quantities is the banana which is on 

 the market at the same time as a{)ples. Banana consumption, however, 

 has remained stable at 18 pounds per person since the early 1930's, with 

 sharp deviations only during 1942 and 1943 due to crop failures. There- 

 fore, the position of bananas as a competitor does not seem to have 

 changed during the time period under study. 



Time series data indicates that citrus fruit consumption rates have 

 been steadily increasing while per capita consumption of apples has 

 been decreasing and other fruits have experienced little change in con- 

 sumption rates. Fresh citrus fruits are the only item having the same 

 marketing season as fresh apples. For these reasons it is probably that 

 citrus fruits are the major competitor for apples on the market. It should 

 be noted, however, that both processed citrus and apple products are 

 experiencing an increase in consumption rates while the per capita con- 

 sumption of tlie fresh products are falling off. 



Although other items have some bearing, it would seem that the most 

 relevant factors in determining the competitive nature of a given 

 apple market are relative prices and quantities of fresh and processed 

 apples and citrus fruit, and the volume and calendar of shipments from 

 local and distant producers. 



"Those noted in Chart 8. 



36 



