Cooperative Procurement of Containers 
for Fruit and Vegetable Processing 
By J. Warren Mather 
Farm Supplies Division 
Cooperative Marketing and Farm 
Supplies Program 
Cooperatives engaged in processing fruits 
and vegetables use a wide variety of con- 
tainers such as metal cans, glass bottles and 
jars, paperboard cartons, and plastic bags. 
Annual expenditures for these supplies are 
often one-third or more of total processing 
costs and equal to a fifth of the sales value 
of the products marketed. 
Over 100 cooperatives do some type of 
processing of fruits and vegetables, with about 
70 percent processing only fruit, 15 percent 
only vegetables, and another 15 percent both 
products. Estimates indicate that about 75 
percent of cooperatives primarily marketing 
processed fruits have sales of less than $5 
million a year, and that over half of 
those processing vegetables have sales under 
$1 million a year, Many cooperatives 
buy containers and other packaging sup- 
plies in small quantities--perhaps at a dis- 
advantage relative to large packing firms. 
Several local marketing associations in 
Florida, California, and Washington purchase 
paperboard containers and other packaging 
supplies through regional container-supply 
cooperatives. Two of these associations have 
fabricating arrangements with container com- 
panies and one manufactures wooden boxes. 
Another cooperative in the Northeast operates 
a bag manufacturing plant. Recently three 
cooperatives (two in California and one in 
Florida) acquired three plants that manu- 
facture metal cans. 
Reports indicate that these procurement 
activities are resulting in substantial savings 
to the cooperatives and their grower members. 
Most of the major canners of fruits and 
vegetables manufacture a part of their own 
container requirements. 
A study of cooperative procurement pro- 
grams and possibilities therefore was under- 
taken because of the interest of smaller 
cooperative processors in obtaining containers 
more advantageously. 
Purpose, Scope, and Method of Study 
The principal objectives of this project 
were to: 
1, Analyze and evaluate the present system 
used by cooperative marketing associations 
for purchasing, manufacturing, and transport- 
ing containers and packaging materials for 
fruits and vegetables. 
2. Determine methods by which savings can 
be made or services improved in procuring 
container and packaging supplies. 
The study covered the United States, but 
major attention was focused on areas such as 
Florida, California, the Pacific Northwest, 
and a few Northeastern States where most 
