UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
I BULLETIN No. 1044 M 
Contribution from the Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates 
J&&*1$&U H. C. TAYLOR, Chief a^^'^TU 
Washington, D. C. T April 19, 1922 
SELF-SERVICE IN THE RETAILING OF FOOD 
PRODUCTS. 
By F. E. Chaffee, formerly Investigator in City Marketing, and McFall 
Kerbey, Assistant, Bureau of Markets. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Introduction i 
Self-service 2 
Advantages and disadvantages of 
Page. 
Problems in self-service 14 
Handling perishable farm products- 35 
Accounting 49 
self-service 4 ' Summary of investigations 39 
INTRODUCTION. 
The cost of distribution plays an important part in the final cost 
of food to the consumer. Under the methods that have been in com- 
mon use for generations in the United States this cost is now very 
high. It has been estimated 1 that of the price paid by the consumer 
for perishable farm products used for food, from 25 to 75 per cent 
commonly goes to pay the cost of distribution — that is, the cost and 
profits of handling after the products leave the hands of the producer. 
In the case of certain products and certain distributing agencies the 
proportion of the final price which goes to pay distribution costs is 
even greater than 75 per cent. 
Of the cost of distributing food products, the cost of the final step, 
retailing, is of major importance, since that single step, on the aver- 
age, approximates the cost of all the preceding distribution steps 
together. There are many good reasons for this, but we are led to the 
conclusion that one of the most urgent points at which to attack the 
high cost of living is through the group of agencies concerned with 
the retailing of foods. 
Several recent developments in the distribution field have had a 
tendency to reduce the cost of retailin g. Such developments are par- 
1 Weld, L. H. D., Studies in Marketing of Farm Products, p. 7. 
78619° — 22 1 1 
