development, and procurement of supplies. 
The cooperative is chartered with broad 
powers, enabling it to engage in any activity 
its members deem Suitable. 
At the time of interview, Citrus Central 
was considering establishing a can-manu- 
facturing plant within a year and was studying 
the feasibility of fabricating corrugated card- 
board cases within 2 to 3 years. 
Most commonly used metal cans used by 
members are No, 404(46 0Z.); 60z.; No. 307(24 
oz.); and No, 303. 
The remainder of the cans used are of 
various sizes and constitute only a small per- 
centage of the total volume, but may repre- 
sent an opportunity for cooperative purchase. 
Major critical factors to be considered are 
research and development and storage of con- 
tainers during the off-season. Other considera- 
tions include determining the best type of 
organization and structure, getting the coop- 
eration of all member groups, and developing 
a profitable line of cans which would have 
sufficient volume and stability to run for 
several years. 
Total volume of corrugated cardboard used 
by the member organizations of Citrus Central 
is equivalent to 250 million board feet, for 
about 30 million can cases. In addition, mem- 
ber groups use about 5 million telescoping 
cartons for fresh fruit. The opportunity for 
fabricating corrugated cartons would require 
investigation. 
The cardboard industry is very competitive 
and requires substantial capital investment. 
Some managers believed that to compete in 
the corrugated cardboard field, one would have 
to get into the actual manufacture of paper 
and perhaps integrate the suppliers of wood 
pulp. However, cooperative plants fabricating 
paperboard containers (such as those of Fruit 
Growers Supply Company, Los Angeles, Calif., 
and Northwest Wholesale, Inc., Wenatchee, 
Wash.) are operating successfully under con- 
tractual arrangements with container com- 
panies manufacturing basic materials, 
NORTHWESTERN AREA 
Washington and Oregon produced a total of 
51.8 million cases of canned vegetables, non-= 
citrus fruits, and juices in 1965, or about 13 
percent of the U.S. total. Nearly half of the 
U.S. total of noncitrus fruit juices are proc- 
essed in these two States. Cooperative proces-= 
sors tend to be concentrated in two general 
areas. In the Yakima Valley in Washington, 
representative associations were: Tree Top, 
Inc., Silah--apple juice, and Blue Ribbon 
Growers, Yakima--mixed fruit and vegetables. 
The second group was located with a 60 to 80- 
mile radius of Portland, Oreg. Representa= 
tives of the larger processors interviewed 
were: Washington Canners Cooperative, Van= 
couver, Wash.; Blue Lake Packers, Salem, 
Oreg.; Diamond Fruit Growers, Hood River, 
Oreg.; United Growers, Inc., Salem, Oreg.; 
and Eugene Fruit Growers Association, 
Eugene, Oreg. This group normally processed 
a mixed line of deciduous fruits and vege- 
tables; sales ranged from $6 million to $13 
million per processor in 1965, 
Six cooperatives in the metropolitan area 
of Portland, Oreg., each reported sales of 
over $2.5 million in 1965. Two other 
processors located within a 200-mile radius 
reported sales in this category. Total sales 
for this group were approximately $55 million 
in 1965. With one exception, all of the proces- 
sors canned both fruits and vegetables; one 
reported handling vegetables only. Some 
fruits (especially berries) and vegetables are 
frozen, but the bulk of the volume is canned. 
Seven other cooperatives contacted in the 
area each had sales of less than $2.5 million. 
These cooperatives engaged in more special- 
ized activities such as freezing, drying, or 
institutional packing, 
Cooperative Purchase.--Processors gen- 
erally believed there were only limited oppor- 
tunities or no apparent advantage for coopera- 
tive purchase of containers and packaging 
supplies in the Northwestern area. Either 
they were large enough that they could pur- 
chase as cheaply as a purchasing agency, or 
33 
