18 BULLETIN 1414, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Fruit Growers' Exchange, the Sun-Maid Raisin Growers, and other 

 large cooperatives, should precede the opening of each marketing 

 season. 4 



It is a part of the duties of a sales manager to determine the nor- 

 mal market for the association's shipments. In doing this he should 

 consider near-by smaller cities which may be supplied directly as 

 well as the larger markets. There are some products, like water- 

 melons or peaches, which must be moved in a brief period and 

 which require wide distribution. For other commodities the market- 

 ing season is longer and distribution may be more intensive. 



After determining the normal market territory, it is necessary to 

 make personal contacts with the buyers in that territory and to 

 maintain the relationships established by fair treatment and by 

 products satisfactory in grade, quality, and price. 



What a cooperative organization can do immediately to improve 

 the distribution of fruits and vegetables is, first, to improve the prod- 

 uct, then to analyze the demand and competing supply, and finally 

 to make clean-cut business connections with reliable car-lot buyers 

 of the commodity. Whether such connections shall be made directly 

 or through brokers or distributing agencies, or whether sales shall be 

 made at the markets or locally are questions which must be decided in 

 the light of the conditions surrounding each organization and com- 

 modity. 



The complaint that too many shipments are moved unsold or con- 

 signed to commission merchants or auctions may result from ineffi- 

 cient marketing service but not necessarily so. Under certain con- 

 ditions, fruit auctions and commission merchants may be the most 

 effective way of disposing of a portion of an association's shipments. 

 Excessive consignments indicate that market conditions are un- 

 favorable, that the buyers are purchasing from day to day and 

 that they want to see the goods before investing. This in turn indi- 

 cates oversupply or diminished demand with often the added factor 

 that the quality of the produce is so inferior or uncertain that buyers 

 are reluctant to purchase shipments outright. 



RETAILING METHODS AND MARGINS 



Many associations are inclined to blame the high margins taken 

 by retailers for the lack of demand for fruit and vegetable products. 

 This is a question on which little information is available and. again, 

 the things which a small association may do to change the situation 

 are limited. The California Fruit Growers' Exchange, owing to its 

 size and stability, is able to engage actively in " dealer service work." 

 Its work with retailers is based on a well-graded, well-packed prod- 

 uct of dependable keeping quality and on the ability of the Exchange 

 to keep its brands of citrus fruit in the markets where these retailers 

 are located. 



The dealer service men of the Exchange visit retailers and en- 

 deavor: (1) To induce the retailer to display California oranges and 

 lemons attractively, (2) to use posters and other' display material 

 featuring the Sunkist trade-mark, and (3) to reduce his margin 



4 See U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 1237, Organization and development of a cooperative citrus- 

 fruit marketing agency, pp. 26 to 28, 1924. 





