19 
Sales Methods 
Selling members' products is the most important function of marketing 
cooperatives. The general pattern is for cooperatives to undertake 
this activity as an integral part of their operations rather than dele- 
gate the authority to others. 
Only 75 of 287 cooperatives from which information was obtained regard- 
ing 1964-65 sales operations were associated by contract or membership 
with other organizations for purposes of selling members fresh fruits 
and vegetables (table 5). Most associations using other firms for sell- 
ing purposes moved 90 percent or more of their products through firms 
acting as their sales agents. 
Direct selling was the predominant method employed by cooperatives in 
moving products into distributive channels while use of brokers ranked 
second (figure 8). Most of the 107 organizations reporting more than 
75 percent direct sales of fresh fruits and vegetables actually had 
100 percent direct sales. This was also true of the 40 associations 
selling 75 to 100 percent through brokers. Most of these 40 associa- 
tions relied entirely on brokers to perform title transfer functions 
(appendix table 12). 
Fifty-one associations reported sales of produce on a consignment basis, 
probably in terminal markets. This method is sometimes used by associa- 
tions to dispose of off-quality fruits and vegetables or of incremental 
quantities that cannot be sold advantageously by other means. Few 
cooperatives utilized auction markets to an appreciable extent in their 
selling operations. 
The percentage distribution of total dollar sales of fresh fruits and 
vegetables sold by 211 associations to chain stores in 1964-65 is shown 
in the accompanying tabulation. 
Percentage of Number of 
total dollar sales associations 
O- 5 45 
5-14 24 
15-24 21 
25-34 27 
35-44 10 
45-54 18 
55-64 20 
65-74 15 
75-84 19 
85-94 8 
95 and over 4 

TOTAL ai tell 
