2pgs, Produce distributors are businesses that aggregate product and resell it in small or large quantities to their customers. Distributors may be an individual with a van or a company with a fleet of eighteen-wheelers. A distributor’s primary relationship is purchasing directly from farmers, although distributors can also buy from brokers or packing houses.
2pgs, Produce packing houses are large-scale businesses that buy produce from growers through a contract and then re-sell it on the open market. They sell very large quantities. Packing houses can also own land, renting plots to farmers to grow specifically for them, and sometimes supplying seed, inputs and packaging. They have invested in equipment such as coolers and fumigators, so they have the ability to store large amounts of product. Packing houses never own the product once they receive it, therefore the price the farmer receives is based on what it sells for at the end of the chain. Some packing houses are cooperatively owned by farmers
2pgs, Wholesale buyers are typically located in permanent stalls at a terminal market. Terminal markets are central sites, often in a metropolitan area, that serve as an assembly and trading place for agricultural commodities. Wholesale buyers will purchase products from farmers, brokers, or packing houses in large quantities, and resell it.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C36861
Notes:
Agricultural Publishers Association Records, Series No. 8/3/80, Box 13, Pages 4-7, minutes of the annual meeting, APA, Chicago, Illinois, October 18, 1938., Discussion about needs and methods. Led to an approved motion to plan a presentation to be used for united action.
Caswell, Julie A. (author), Padberg, Daniel I. (author), and Caswell: Department of Resources Economics, University of Massachusetts; Padberg: Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1992-05
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 91 Document Number: C06519
James F. Evans Collection, Food labels play important third-party roles in the food marketing system through their impact on product design, advertising, consumer confidence in food quality, and consumer education on diet and health. However, a current analysis focuses overwhelmingly on the label's direct use as a point-of-purchase shopping aid, even though such use is limited by consumers; information processing abilities and time. In rewriting label regulations, policy makers should consider the benefits and costs of the broad array of roles labels serve, with evaluation of alternative regimes based on their impacts on consumer behavior and seller strategy. (author)
