Table 6,--Sources of containers and packaging supplies reported by fruit and 
vegetable processing cooperatives, 1965 
_ Cooperatives | 
Source Percent of 
Number Percent total purchases 
reporting | of total ! 
—} 
Supply cooperative ...ceecee 4 3 
Local private supplier ..... 8 5 
Direct from manufacturer... 96 92 
MOtal fis: ce oececeleie ols ee bethog 100 
1 Percentages exceed 100 because some cooperatives purchase from more 
than one source, 
obtained containers from a manufacturing 
plant they owned jointly. 
Three cooperatives in the United States op- 
erate their own can-manufacturing plants at 
the present time. California Canners and 
Growers, Inc., and the Tri Valley Growers, 
both at San Francisco, own and operate jointly 
the C T Supply Company, Inc., Fremont, Calif. 
The Winter Garden Citrus Products Coopera- 
tive, Winter Garden, Fla., manufactures 50 to 
75 percent of its own tin cans (see p. 23 for a 
complete discussion of existing cooperative 
can manufacturers), 
Establishment of another cooperative can- 
manufacturing plant is currently in the active 
planning stage in one area andis under serious 
consideration in at least two other areas. 
Direct purchases from the manufacturers 
were the primary source of cans, bottles, and 
paperboard boxes, accounting for 92 to 96 
percent of the total. 
Local private suppliers primarily servedas 
a source for other than standard high-volume 
items, supplying about 15 percent of the total. 
Specialty items such as plastic bags, poly 
film, wooden boxes, and metal drums com- 
posed the majority of purchases from these 
suppliers. 
PURCHASES DIRECT FROM MANU- 
FACTURERS 
Processors generally purchased containers 
from two or three different manufacturers to 
fill their requirements because they wanted to 
avoid becoming too dependent on any one com- 
pany and they like to keep the various manu- 
facturers ''competitive.,'"' 
Advantages.--Processors generally ap- 
peared quite satisfied with the service pro- 
vided by container manufacturers. 
The most important advantage in dealing 
directly with manufacturers was related:to 
service in 45 percent of the responses (table 7). 
(More detailed comments are shown in ap-= 
pendix table 1.) Processors’ production lines 
run on a very tight schedule and stoppage of 
production is very costly. For this reason, 
processors place great value on good service 
pertaining to scheduled deliveries, general 
dependability, and servicing of equipment. 
Technical representatives of the container 
manufacturers will normally work closely 
with the processor on problems such as plant 
layout, design of equipment, servicing of 
equipment, and container specifications. 
Price was given as an advantage by 24 per- 
cent of the respondents. Fifteen percent re- 
ported they were purchasing from the lowest 
9 
