Fruit Trade Research Articles

Basic Structure of Fruit Trade Liberalization

Basic Structure of Fruit Trade Liberalization

The use of wild fruits in Zimbabwe

Most peasant households in Zimbabwe use edible fruits of indigenous woody plants. Deforestation does not significantly affect availability of selected fruits, because people tend not to cut selected trees when clearing land for cultivation. A different range of species is used in the different natural regions of Zimbabwe. Fruit use mainly occurs in the periods of seasonal food stress, even though these seasons are not necessarily the periods of maximum fruit abundance. Wild fruits, often the only source of fruit for households, are used mostly by children. There is a significant trade in wild fruits.

European Community Enlargement and World Trade in Fruits and Vegetables

AbstractWorld trade models for the product classes fresh fruits, dried fruits, processed fruits, fresh vegetables, and processed vegetables are estimated and used to project the impact on export prices and trade patterns likely to arise after the European Economic Community enlargement with Greece, Portugal, and Spain. The results indicate that current world trends in import demands and export supplies if continued, and in the absence of enlargement, will cause marked declines of export prices for four of the above product categories (except dried fruits). The enlargement will not significantly modify these price projections, but it will divert a significant part of European Community imports of these products to the three new member countries.

Careers:

Staff training — is there a need? This was the question that the Chairman of the National Institute of Fresh Produce posed at a session of the 47th National Convention of the Retail Fruit Trade Federation Conference at Blackpool. He asked delegates to remember the excitement and confusion of their first day at work. He suggested that training — to which he was committed through the Institute, which was in itself an example of practical co‐operation between different sectors of the fruit trade — would speed the process by which young people entering the trade gained from the experience of others, and help to ensure that they stayed. Practical help has been given through the publication of a series of booklets, including The introduction of new staff, on the distribution of fresh produce, wholesaling and — introduced for the first time at the Conference — retailing. The NIFP has also worked with the London City and Guilds to produce a specific skills scheme. This was currently being tried out in companies and would be published to provide a simple, straightforward training scheme for young people to follow in a retail shop.

Australia, Canada, and the United States: Trade Partners or Competitors

Australia, Canada, and the United States are three of the world's largest traders in temperate zone agricultural commodities. More than two-thirds of world exports of wheat, feed grains, and oilseeds originate in the three, with the United States accounting alone for nearly 40% of the wheat, 70% of the corn, and nearly 80% of the soybeans exported. In addition 25% of the world meat trade occurs among the three. Beyond these items, there is significant bilateral trade in fruits, vegetables, and assorted other products. Agricultural trade is important to the countries themselves. Agricultural exports accounted for the following percentages of total exports in 1976Australia 43.5%, United States 20.6%, and Canada 11%. Agricultural exports are even more important to the agricultural economies of the three countries. It is not surprising, therefore, that there is an interesting set of agricultural trade issues in which all three have vital interests.

La commercialisation des fruits et légumes en Lot-et-Garonne

The wholesale trade of fruits and vegetables in Lot-et- Garonne (SW France). The département of Lot-et-Garonne ranks first in Aquitaine as far as the production of fruits and vegetables (prunes, apples, pears, tomates, melons, fresh French-beans, etc.) is concerned. The wholesalers-forwarders keep on buying and selling most of the production. But the farmers organized themselves since fifteen years in order to get a better command of the trade of these goods. This paper aims at pointing out their attempts and achievements in this field (co-operatives and guilds of patented producers). Few market-places only play an important part. Compared with trade centres of lesser importance such as Villeneuve-sur-Lot and Nérac, Agen and Marmande secure the trade and dispatching of 70 000 tons each yearly and they should be considered as the centres of large areas focussed on the Garonne and Lot Valleys which are the main districts of production. Most vegetables are sold in France, mainly in Paris and in its vicinity, on the other hand, fruit exports out of France are slowly increasing their share.

Opening moves in participation

The National Ports Council has been developing a concept of progress meetings based on working groups, over a period of ten years. The original ideas were refined from experience with a Fred Olsen Lines cargo handling subsidiary in the London Millwall Docks and extended to the local Port Authority as well as a number of other British ports. In Olsens the project began in 1967 when the NPC was called in to assist with problems encountered in operating a new labour agreement. The new mechanised system of loading and unloading ships with palletised cargo handled by fork lift trucks was a complete contrast to traditional methods of handling the Canary fruit trade. In particular the management of the new system put great strains on the cargo superintendents and supervisory group who were coping with the new technology. The approach used was essentially to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and support between individuals and between related levels of management. People were encouraged to discuss: • What their job objectives were and how these related to their concept of overall efficiency for the organisation. • What problems existed and possible means of overcoming them. The role that we played was to listen, to summarise and to help the various levels of management and managed to diagnose the work problems they encountered. As we had no axe to grind we could put a point of view to people and at the same time show them how they might be perceived by others.

The prospects of developing a grape industry in India

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade has suggested that two corporations be set up for the export of fruits and vegetables. The export potential of India's fruits and vegetables has been barely tapped. Our share is a meager fraction of the world's annual export trade, which runs to 7 billion dollars. The Institute visualizes an export target of Rs. 50 crores a year by 1975-76. This would represent a tremendous achievement, since our exports in this sphere now total barely Rs. 6.7 crores, consisting mainly of Rs. 3 crores worth of bananas to the Soviet Union and a few million rupees worth of mangoes to other countries. Notwithstanding the fact that fruits have been grown in India from time immemorial, the diet of the average Indian is sadly deficient in fruits. According to the U.S.S.R. Academy of Medical Sciences, the average diet of man should include 110 to 120 kg of fruits per year, of which grapes should constitute 10%. A recent survey shows, however, that India's annual per capita consumption of fruits is 16.5 kg, restricted mainly to the higher economic groups of society, as compared to 150 kg in Italy and Switzerland. The present low per capita consumption may be ascribed to inadequate or uneconomic production of fruit. There is no denying the fact that India, endowed as she is by nature with an immense diversity of fruits, has a vast potential for the development of fruit production, which, if exploited fully, could help the country become a leader in the world fruit trade. An ominous feature of our fruit industry till recently has been the lack of attention to the development of fruits other than mango and banana. There is no doubt that the low cost of establishing and maintaining mango and banana plantations has invested these fruits with a special status in our country, where capital is scarce for investment in land. Partly for economic reasons, and partly because of the prevailing belief that the

Seasonality in the Tropics: The Supply of Fruit to Singapore

IT IS a commonplace in introductory textbooks of geography that in the equatorial rainy tropics the absence of distinct seasonality in temperature and rainfall causes plant growth to be continuous. Statements are often made to the effect that individual trees carry blossoms, green fruit, and ripe fruit at all times of the year, that leaves are shed continuously, that trees are never bare, and that the forest is perennially evergreen. Many nongeographical writers have extolled the quality of tropical fruits, have written of their abundance and variety, and have said, or at least implied, that all fruits are available all year long. None of these statements is completely false, but almost none of the generalizations is completely true. The very wealth of tropical plant species results in a wide range of growing habits, but the trees that produce fruits of economic value tend to behave somewhat alike and do have distinctly seasonal, though irregular, patterns of ripening, and large volumes of fruit at certain times are not to be counted on. My experience in fruit buying for a year in Singapore, one of the classic climatic stations for the equatorial-rain-forest regime, cast unexpectedly interesting light on the role of climate in fruit production, on the world trade in fruit, and on textbook generalizations about vegetative growth in the tropics. For such a large urban consuming market as Singapore, the tropical sources of supply are much too irregular, and the simple fact is that today more extratropical than tropical fruit is consumed in Singapore.

THE SITUATION OF ORCHARDS IN THE NEAREST SURBURBS OF NAGOYA CITY

The Conclusions reached from surveying the situation of the orchards (mandarin oranges, peaches s nd apples) in the surburbs of Nagoya City are as follows: 1. Location of orchards close to the Market Obviously it is convenient that orchards are located close to a large market, because it costs less in transportation cost, but even grater cost is saved in the packing charges. The degree of necessity of packing greatly depends upon the nature of fruits and the organization of markets. 2. Scale of Orchard The orchads are generally small-scaled in Japan, but the scale of a suburban orchard is especially small. Between the special farmer and the by-occupation one, there is a distinct difference both in the investment of capital and the dealing of fruits. 3. Use of Rubbish The rubbish from a city is to be used in the suburban orchards at a low price as fertilizer of organic material. 4. Labor in the Employment The labor cost in the suburbs is slightly higher than that in remote rural villages. The adjacent rural villages can supply the work-plants labor. 5. Scale of Fruits Trade The scale of fruits trade is done by individuals or cooperatives. No brokers are found in the dealing. Many farmers possess motorcycles for their sales. 6. Competition of Land Use The development of orchards has ceased, because the land value has lately boosted owing to the city expansion. 7. In the suburbs of Nagoya City characteristic suburban agriculture whose chief feature is fruit. growing is carried on. Its extent is from about 30 to 40km in the suburbs of Nagoya.

Economic Contributions of the Greeks to the United States

T t nHE early Greek immigrant on his arrival in the United States was chiefly employed as an unskilled laborer in the textile industry of New England, a miner in Utah or Pennsylvania, a laborer on railroads all over the country, a fisherman on one coast or another, or farmhand on the fruit farms of California. In fact, he could find place in almost any occupation which required labor without much skill. When the laborer had saved a little money he invested it in a fruit or flower tray and peddled his wares in some city street. By virtue of long hours, thrifty living, and keen business sense he collected a little more money which he invested in a fruit or flower stand, and on the accumulation of a little more capital he started a small business. Perhaps several Greeks rented a property together to establish the variety store; confectionery goods, shoeshining and repairing, and the flower mart, all in one store. Trade in fruit, candy, and flowers can be started with small capital and little experience. The turnover is almost daily. Only small funds are tied up in the business at any one time, but they can gradually be expanded until profitable proportions are reached. Small businesses of this kind thus fitted with Greek plans, Greek capacity, and Greek enterprise. Close co6peration among the Greeks in their economic life was one of the main factors which brought about the establishment of Greek communities, churches, and schools. The intimate circle formed from the first immigrants and those coming later may be traced to the fact that none could speak English on his arrival in this country, and those who came earlier were a little more familiar with the language and customs of the country than later arrivals. The church has always been an important element in the loyalty and unification of the Greeks, for almost all Greeks belong to the Greek Orthodox or Eastern Catholic Church. Through long centuries without an independent national territory the idea of nationalism was preserved by the Greek Church. Tradition of classical culture is a very important additional unifying factor. Any cultural attributes which an ethnic group possesses are maintained only if the number of members is large. When there is an insufficient number of people to organize a church, a fraternal or social organization, its cultural solidarity is more rarely achieved. Concentration of Greeks in cities is partly explained by the need of numbers for any social or other organization. Of the total number of Greeks in the United States, 91 per cent congregate in urban areas, 7.14 per cent reside in rural areas but do not farm, and only 1.6 per cent have settled on farms. After 1890, the so-called new immigration into America took place, that is, the immigration of the peoples of southern and eastern Europe of which the Greeks were a conspicuous element. The old immigration into America was composed chiefly of western Europeans and the Greeks took only a very insignificant part in it. Greeks usually engage in businesses

British Food Journal Volume 43 Issue 6 1941

British Food Journal Volume 43 Issue 6 1941

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 5 1933

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 5 1933

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 4 1933

The Dominion of New Zealand is not, at present, an exporter of canned fruits. The canned fruits which are made are made for home consumption. So far as the export trade of fruit is concerned the New Zealand growers have mainly concerned themselves with raw apples and to a smaller extent with pears. Everyone knows that the Dominion extends over a small range of low southern latitude; that it has a sunny and equable climate; a rainfall well distributed over the year; a variety of excellent soils. It will, in a word, grow almost anything, a fact that has not altogether proved to be an unmixed blessing. Up to 1876 its hundred thousand square miles of area was divided into nine provinces; after that date by the Provinces Act, 1876, the country was divided for administrative purposes into counties with powers of local self‐government. The central government, at Wellington, is responsible for the Acts referred to in this article, these Acts being applicable to the whole of the Dominion. Such legislative measures as have been passed in relation to the fruit industry have for their main object the development of fruit orchards, chiefly those of apples at present. In the year 1930–1, 3,539 tons of fruit were used in the making of jams, jellies, canned or bottled fruits and “other products.” The value of the fruit canned or bottled was £45,763, as against £165,655 for jams and jellies, and £119,104 for “other products” in the same period. This works out roughly to about 14 per cent. The Orchard Tax Act† (No. 25, 1927) provides for special taxation for the development of the fruit‐growing industry and the protection of orchards from fireblight.‡ Under Section 3 of the Act any fruit grower with 120 or more trees in his orchard shall pay one shilling for every acre or part of an acre. The minimum yearly tax under this section shall be five shillings. The term “fruit” includes apples, pears, quinces, oranges, lemons, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and cherries, and any other kind of fruit which may subsequently be declared by the Governor‐General in the Gazette. This is a good list of fruits and illustrates as well as anything of the kind can the great possibilities of New Zealand as a fruit‐growing country. Lemons are an important crop in North Island. Much of the lemons consumed in New Zealand are home grown, but it is desired to make the Dominion self‐supporting in this respect. The Poorman Orange, according to the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, is becoming popular as a substitute for imported grape fruit. Oranges it seems have been cultivated with success since about 1875, as well as citron, lime and lemon in the neighbourhood of Auckland. Thompson (Naturalisation of Animals and Plants in New Zealand, 1922) quotes a remark by an officer of the brig “Hawes” in December, 1928, that he saw a few orange trees that had been introduced with success. The same author remarks that apples, pears, and, according to Major Cruise (1820), peaches had been introduced by the missionaries. It was about this time that missionary enterprise, which would appear to have been somewhat badly needed, made its appearance.

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 3 1933

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 3 1933

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 2 1933

The canned fruit and canned vegetable industry of Canada is of recent but rapid growth. The recently issued Report by the Department of Trade and Commerce on the industry states that it supplies nearly all the Canadian home requirements and at the present time there is in addition a small export trade in canned pears and other canned fruits—not specified—which are sent almost exclusively to the United Kingdom.

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 1 1933

British Food Journal Volume 35 Issue 1 1933

British Food Journal Volume 29 Issue 9 1927

British Food Journal Volume 29 Issue 9 1927

Fruit Trade Building Dock & Granite Streets Philadelphia, Pa.

Fruit Trade Building Dock & Granite Streets Philadelphia, Pa.