HIGHLIGHTS 



Cooperative fruit and vegetable processors are increasingly interested 

 in coordinated marketing programs. Basic information in this report 

 will aid them in appraising opportunities for joint warehousing and 

 distribution programs, exploring possibilities for merger or consoli- 

 dation, and determining locations and size of new plants. 



Data for the report came from replies by 47 cooperative fruit and 

 vegetable processors. 



Important features of these cooperatives are: 



* The 47 cooperatives handled approximately one-fifth of all fruit, 

 vegetables, and juice processed in the United States during 1969. 

 The proportion of the U.S. total these cooperatives packed in 

 1969, by major category, was: 



--Dried fruit, 39 percent; 



--Canned deciduous fruit and juice, 33 percent; 



--Citrus fruits utilized in processing, 24 percent; 



--Frozen deciduous fruit, berry, and juice pack, 18 percent; 



--Canned vegetable and juice pack, 13 percent; 



--Frozen vegetables, 8 percent, 



* Approximately two-thirds of the total fruit and vegetables packed 

 by the 47 processing cooperatives were canned; 14 percent bottled; 

 13 percent frozen; and 6 percent dried. 



* Thirty-nine of the 47 processing cooperatives had canning opera- 

 tions--17 canning only, and 22 canning and doing other types of 

 processing. Fourteen of the 47 did canning and freezing and six 

 had canning, freezing, and drying operations. Twenty-three of 

 the 47 were engaged in more than one type of processing, 



* Forty-five of the cooperatives provided sufficient data for a 

 classification by dollar volume. Sixteen had a volume between 

 $1,0 and $9.9 million: Ten had $30 million and over; nine had 

 between $10 and $19,9 million; seven had less than $1 million; 

 and three had between $20 and $29.9 million. 



* Cooperatives in the Western States had 51 percent of the owned 

 processing facilities and 48 percent of the owned storage facil- 

 ities. Cooperatives in the Eastern States had 34 percent and 



47 percent respectively. Those in the Western States had 50 

 percent of the leased storage facilities, while the Central 

 States had 33 percent, and the Eastern States 17 percent. 



