Estudo sôbre a comercialização de figos e uvas em São PauloEstudo sôbre a comercialização de figos e uvas em São Paulo(*)
Mário D. Homem de Melo
Comissão de Estudos de Economia Rural da Secretaria da Agricultura
SUMMARY
In this publication the marketing of figs and grapes that are produced in the region situated among the cities of Campinas, Itatiba and Jundiai are studied. The principal characteristics of this region are described.
Data and information on the services carried out by growers and middlemen were obtained personally by the author by the survey method. Other methods were used to otain prices and shippina data. The marketing activities of growers, wholesalers and retailers were studied separately.
The services performed by the growers are packing, classification, transportation to railway stations and freight payment to the market. Each of these services are described with statistics data and fully criticized. It is shown that no official standards exist for these fruits and consequently, the farmers grade their production according to their own criterion. The only means of transportation between producing centers and markets is the railway. Growers and dealers have justified complaints against the railway companies services. They claim that the time is too long, the freight cars are unfit for perishable products, there muchihe carelessness in the manipulation of packs, there is no direct transportation to Rio de Janeiro and the freight rates are too high.
It was found that almost ninety percent of the growers sell their production through the wholesalers located in the Municipal Markets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro cities, the remaining ten percent being sold directly to retailers and consumers.
The growers use two methods of sale, the first on consignment, wherein the wholesaler receives and sells the fruit at the day price, deducts his commission and selling expenses and sends bach to the grower the rest of the gross returns. The second method, "fixed price", enables the grower to sell to a wholesaler all or part of his production at a fixed price per unit, usually fixed before the season. The advantages and disadvantages of these two methods of sale are discussed. Of the interviewed growers, 62.4 percent sell on consignment but only 12.7 percent of these growers receive a bill which shows the amount of the gross returns and a detailed account of selling expenses.
More than two-thirds of the production of the region goes to São Paulo city, the rest being sent to Rio de Janeiro, Santos and other cities in the State, (see table).
Data on the growers marketing expenses are given. The most outstanding items are packing paper, freight, packing case amortisation, sale and consignment tax and the agent's commission. The ways by which the consignees calculate their commission which sometimes reaches as high as fifty percent of the selling price, are described.
The wholesale and retail markets of both products are described and details are given on the selling methods, dealer's locations, buyers' classes, selling hours, selling units, quantities sold and risk. In the description of the retail markets, each class of retailers is dealt with separately, such as, fairs, groceries, hucksters, green groceries, hotels and restaurants.
Based on information and data obtained from a few typical dealers, the marketing expenses of wholesalers and retailers are listed. The items included are fixed expenses such as rent, wages and taxes and direct selling expenses such as packing and transportation.
A study on prices of figs and grapes shows that the prices are too high for the most part of the population and that the growers are not duly compensated with any raise in consumer prices. To elucidate the causes of these facts, a study was made of the fig and grape supply and demand factors and the system by which prices are set. An analysis shows that the following factors affect the annual prices : annual production, season length, population purchasing power, consumption habits, competition of similar fruits and variations or the internal purchasing power of the money. As to daily price variation the following factors of supply and demand were analyzed : daily shipments to São Paulo, stocks, festive days and weather conditions. This analysis shows that the raise in last years' prices was due to the increase in demand. Demand has greatly increased by the joint action of a raised purchasing power of some consumer classes and increased fruit consumption habits. The growers have been unable to supply the quantity demanded. The fall in the internal purchasing power of the money must have also contributed in raising the prices.
Studying the system by which the wholesale and retail prices are set, it was found that these markets are operated on a monopolistic competition basis, as termed by E. W. Chamberlin. In the wholesale market this situation is made possible on account of the small number of dealers in trade and the differentiation of "product," (there is evidence of an oligopoly plus differentiation). Differentiation is found both in selling and buying operations. In the retailer market the monopolistic competition is due to the great differentiation in "product" which is favored by several factors that aTe ennumerated. The consequences of these conditions are pointed out: the prices are set in a very high level, the dealers' margins are greater and the operation seale is smaller than it could be if these markets were operated under pure competition. The possibilities of increasing the number of wholesalers and of lessening the differentiation of the product are discussed.
The margins and profits of the middlemen int the marketing of figs and grapes are calculated as a first step. Using the same data, it was made an [attempt to distribute the consumer "Cruzeiro" by the services of commercialization.
Lastly, several measures to better the commercialization are suggested, some of them with the purpose of lessening the middlemen monopolyc power thus increasing the bargain power of the growers and consumers, and some others with the purpose of giving more efficiency to the commercialization. The following measures are discussed : standardization and grading services, market news, regularization and use of new methods of sale, better and cheaper transportation services, better localization of the wholesale market, studies on storage, studies on the use of cheaper package, tax system revision, measures against waste, and better service to the consumers.
Further discussed is the fact that the cause of weakness of the trade of figs and grapes in São Paulo, as in the case of all fruits in general, is to be found, primarily, in the lack of commercial education of the population, in the weak purchasing power of the greater part of the population and in the small amount of fruits commercially produced.
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Datas de Publicação
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Publicação nesta coleção
21 Jun 2010 -
Data do Fascículo
Ago 1945
