HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 25 



the apple industry that after exercising great care to cull out all skin- 

 punctured and badly bruised fruit, many packers package their apples 

 in such a way as to bruise and puncture a large proportion of the good 

 fruit remaining. Surveys conducted in retail stores in various parts 

 of the country reveal that the outstanding defect in the apples offered 

 for sale is bruising— often very bad bruising. In self-service stores 

 customers naturally do not select badly bruised apples and in other 

 types of stores such apples are heavily discounted. The offering of 

 bruised fruit discourages the interest of both seller and buyer, at the 

 expense of the producer. Often the industry as a whole suffers in con- 

 sequence, not only because of low profits but also because consumers 

 turn to more attractive competing fruits, fresh, frozen, or canned, 

 which may be available in the same store. 



Examination of the apples before they are removed from the original 

 container shows that much of the bad "bruising occurs after the fruit- 

 is packed. The greatest single factor in producing this damage is the 

 insistence of "the trade" on a high bulge or heavy pack so that apples 

 can be bought by the package and sold by the pound. A high-bulge 

 pack will usually bring the producer a few cents more than one that 

 is merely tight (as distinct from a slack pack) ; so many growers make 

 it a rule to put on the high bulge. Since such packs are favored in 

 the wholesale trade but ultimately result in slowing down retail sales, 

 their widespread use points to a notable lack of coordination among 

 the various factors concerned in the handling of the commercial apple 

 crop. However, for the reasons indicated, it is not likely that this 

 situation can be corrected without an industry-wide effort, If the 

 grower or packer could reach the consumer directly, the practice would 

 be abolished very quickly, but when they contact each other only 

 remotely, and then through intermediaries whose interest in apples as 

 such is only incidental, the problem is made very difficult. 



Results of a survey conducted in the winter of 1940-41 by P. C. 

 Crandall 2 in the retail stores of Columbus, Ohio, reported as fol- 

 lows, show the extent to which bruising is found in apples offered 

 for sale in retail stores : 



In determining the various types of damage, the following classification was 

 used: 1. Slightly bruised — (Enough damage to affect the external appearance) ; 

 2. Severely bruised — (Many small bruises or large bruises an inch or more in 

 diameter) ; 3. Undecayed skin breaks; 4. Decayed skin breaks. 



. . . the average grocer's display [of apples was found to contain the following:] 



Sound fruit 57. 9% 



Slightly bruised 21. 9 



Severely bruised 11. 4 



Skin breaks, undecayed 5. 2 



Skin breaks, decayed 3. 6 



. . . Since almost all of the fruit examined came either from the West Coast 

 or from Ohio, a check was made of the extent and type of damage prevalent 

 on the fruit from these two regions. 



Ohio Western 



Slightly bruised__— 20. 2 24. 1 



Severely bruised 8. 15. 3 



Skin breaks _ 6.6 3.5 



Decayed skin breaks 4. 4 2. 7 



Sound 60. 9 54. 3 



2 Reported in : Xold, Truman, how apples declixe in value. National Apple Institute, 

 Columbus, Ohio, Bui. 35, [3] pp. 1941. [Processed.] 



