AGRICULTUKAL COOPERATION IN DENMARK. 47 
30 years is largely attributed to the trade improvement effected by 
cooperative marketing. 
EARLY MARKETING PROBLEMS. 
Since the beginning of the egg export, the marketing problem has 
been a live one. The early export trade with Great Britain in the 
last half of the nineteenth century was not a success. The eggs 
were of poor quality, not dependably graded, and the supply was 
irregular, all of which resulted in low prices to the producers. To 
bring a dependable supply of fresh eggs on the British markets was 
the problem which constantly confronted merchants and exporters. 
In 1895 the idea of marketing eggs through cooperative channels 
began to arouse interest among farmers and the development of 
this method of marketing has had a tremendously beneficial influence 
upon Danish egg production and trade during the last quarter- 
century. 
PRESENT MARKETING SYSTEM. 
The three common channels through which Danish eggs are now 
marketed are (1) the Danish Cooperative Egg Export Association, 
(2) the cooperative bacon factories, and (3) private merchants. 
The Danish Cooperative Egg Export Association (Dansk Andels 
Aegexport) began its activities in 1895, 32 with 25 local egg-collecting 
associations, with a membership of about 800 egg producers. The 
second year, its membership comprised over 200 local associations. 
At the end of 25 years' operation, the central association had 540 
local associations with approximately 50,000 members. In 1922, the 
membership reached 550 associations and the central association 
handled 13,510,869 pounds (approximately 275,000 cases 33 ) of eggs 
at a value amounting to 14,701,500 kroner. Between 15 and 20 per 
cent of its eggs handled annually are sold on the home market, largely 
to the wholesale trade. In 1922, the central association exported 
11,362,998 pounds (approximately 230,000 cases) of eggs and this 
represented 11.2 per cent of the total export of Danish eggs. 
From a small beginning 28 years ago, this association has gradually 
developed to be a most powerful and influential enterprise in the 
Danish egg trade. With its rigid control in collecting eggs from the 
producers and guaranteeing the consumers fresh, high-quality eggs, 
the Danish Export Association soon created a favorable market de- 
mand for its eggs, both at home and in Great Britain, which 
eventually resulted in better prices. Its standardized products mar- 
keted through efficient distributive channels, return a larger share 
of the consumer's price to the producer than before the days of 
cooperation. Table 7 illustrates both the association's sound growth 
and the gradual increase in prices obtained for its eggs. Coopera- 
tive marketing has revolutionized the whole Danish egg trade and 
changed egg production in Denmark from a precarious, unprofit- 
32 Kock. W. A., Dansk Andels Aegexports Virksomhed i 25 Aar, 1895-1920. Published by 
Dansk Andels Aegexport, Copenhagen, 1920. 
33 Figured on the basis of 360 eggs to the case. 
