Would It Help Cooperative Fruit and Vegetable Processors? 



Irwin W. Rust 



Fruit and Vegetable Branch 

 Market ing Division 



Interest in some method of jointly sell- 

 ing and merchandising cooperatively 

 processed fruits, vegetables, consumer 

 packaged rice, beans, and miscellaneous 

 edible farm products has been developing 

 for many years. During World War II 

 this inter est was subordinated to problems 

 associated with the war effort, but since 

 1946, and particularly in the 1950's, 

 marketing and distribution problems have 

 multiplied for cooperative processors. 



The growth of large-scale buyers, 

 such as chain stores, has created a 

 demand and need for suppliers who can 

 furnish large volumes. Relatively small 

 processors report difficulty in filling the 

 needs of large customers. The battle for 



shelf space in modern retail food stores 

 has made it imperative for store oper- 

 ators to reduce or eliminate multiple 

 brands of identical commodities. Rising 

 costs of production and marketing are 

 making it increasingly important for 

 processors to pack and sell at optimum 

 efficiency. This suggests that a joint 

 marketing activity might be more efficient 

 and economical than for each firm to con- 

 duct its own sales activities. 



The recent study of fruit and vege- 

 table processors on which this report is 

 based disclosed that the most pressing 

 marketing problems faced were associated 

 with: (1) Maintenance of full and adequate 

 market coverage; (2) brand competition 

 and acceptance; (3) the pressure between 

 rising costs and current prices; and 

 (4) changing practices and preferences of 

 their customers. 



Nature and Scope of this Study 



Knowledge of the nature and extent of 

 interest in a coordinated marketing pro- 

 gram, and of the nature of the market 

 any coordinated effort would face, is 

 prerequisite to successful initiation of 

 any joint merchandising effort. 



Farmer Cooperative Service planned 

 a study in two phases to find answers to 

 some of these problems. The first phase 

 measured processor interest in improving 

 their marketing activities. The second 

 phase, now imderway, will measure the 

 market now faced, and to be faced, by 

 fruit and vegetable processing firms. 



This report discusses material 

 gathered in the first phase of the project. 

 Its overall objectives have been: (1) To 

 assist cooperative and other processors 

 and shippers in developing joint selling 

 and merchandising programs to increase 

 efficiency and expand distribution; (2) to 

 study factors involved in operating such 

 programs successfully; and (3) to develop 

 plans and procedures for initiating them. 



Information was sought from all known 

 cooperative fruit and vegetable processors 

 in the United States and from several 

 rice and dried bean and pea associations 



