Shoppers today mist be familiar with many 



brands in order to get the best arid most for 



their money. Here are some of the brands 



cooverat ives use. 



However, volumes were reported in 

 a number of different can sizes as well 

 as in bulk or in pounds. To obtain 

 figures which were additive and com- 

 parable, these were converted to an 

 equivalent basis. All can sizes were 

 converted first to gallons, then to 24/2 



(24 No. 2 cans) equivalent cases. Frozen 

 products were converted to cases of 

 24 10-ounce equivalent; and gallons of 

 wine, brandy and vermouth were con- 

 verted to cases of 12/5ths equivalent. 

 Dates were converted to cases of 24 

 10-ounce packages. Packaged rice and 

 dried beans and peas were converted to 

 hundredweight equivalent (table 1), 



Early in this discussion a broad geo- 

 graphical or regional grouping was 

 described. This has been used as a basis 

 for tabulating total volumes by types of 

 product, and net volumes which processors 

 indicated they would be willing to market 

 through a joint sales agency. 



Most processors indicated they would 

 be willing to allocate only a portion of 

 their total output to any joint sales 

 agency, saying they must reserve a 

 certain portion of their pack to take care 

 of established customers, at least until 

 such time as the joint sales program 

 proved successful. Seven interested firms 

 did not report volume. One of those 

 seven firms processes vegetables, one 

 deciduous fruit, one specialty items, and 

 four rice and dried beans and peas. Thus, 

 total volume could be increased by the 

 amount processed by these seven firms. 



The regional totals reveal that, for 

 the Nation as a whole, cooperative proc- 

 essors were willing to market jointly 

 about 57 percent of their processed 

 fruits, vegetables, and specialty items, 

 and 40 percent of their packaged rice and 

 dried beans and peas. These percentages 

 vary somewhat between regions. 



Sales Policies and Practices 



To determine the nature and degree 

 of interest in coordinated marketing, 

 processors were asked a series of ques- 

 tions concerning their present sales 

 practices, the type of coordinated pro- 

 gram they would prefer, and to what 

 degree they would support such a pro- 

 gram. Knowledge of such current prac- 

 tices also provides some indication of the 

 degree of difficulty which might be ex- 

 pected in achieving the goals desired. 

 Answers to this portion of the study are 



reported later in tabular form insofar as 

 possible. 



Current market area served , ^ 



Knowledge of the market areas that 

 firms interested in a joint sales program 

 now serve is important in planning a 

 program best suited to their needs. 

 Interested cooperative processors were 

 asked to indicate what percentage of 

 their pack was sold locally, regionally. 



