Total Packing Costs and Selling Charges 



The accumulation of costs for packing labor, 

 containers and other supplies, and overhead provide 

 an estimate of total packing costs (table 4). Within 

 any region, total packing costs were greater for tray 

 packed apples than for bagged apples due to 

 additional expenses for containers and other 

 supplies. The additional cost for Red Delicious apples 

 varied from 5 cents per carton in the Northeast to 16 

 cents in the Lake States. The total costs of tray 

 packing Red Delicious apples was 16 cents higher in 

 the Northwest than the next most costly region, 

 Appalachia. The essential cause of the higher costs 

 was larger overhead expenditures. Lowest packing 



costs were in the Lake States. Bagged apples could be 

 packed in the Lake States for slightly over 1 dollar per 

 carton, while tray packing of Red Delicious apples 

 could be accomplished at a lower cost than bagging 

 apples in the Northeast. Labor and overhead costs in 

 the Lake States were substantially below those in 

 other regions. 



When selling charges are also considered, the cost 

 picture changes somewhat. With the addition of 

 selling charges, the Northeast cost for tray packed 

 Red Delicious approximates that for the Northwest. 

 Rather low selling charges keep the Lake States' total 

 packing costs and selling charges much below those 

 of any other region. 



22 TFS-191, JULY 1974 



