Marketing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Book excerpt: This book has evolved out of experience gained during 15 years of teaching a course on fruit and vegetable marketing to Cornell University undergrad uates. Initially it was difficult to assemble written material that would intro duce the students to the industry and provide examples to illustrate market ing principles. Apart from a few major studies like the U. S. Department of Agriculture's survey of wholesale markets that came out in 1964 or the re port of the National Commission on Food Marketing published in 1966 there was little research to turn to in the early 1970s. Trade association meetings, trade papers, and personal contacts with members of the industry were the major sources of information. It became necessary to collect infor mation from many different sources to fill the need for a descriptive base. Now there are many good research reports and articles being published on various phases of the industry. There still remains a pressing need, however, to consolidate and interpret this information so that it provides an under standing of the total system and its various parts. Fresh fruit and vegetable marketing is different in many respects from the marketing of other agricultural and nonagricultural products. Hundreds of individual commodities comprise the total group. Each product has its own special requirements for growing and handling, with its own quality attributes, merchandising methods, and standards of consumer acceptance.