The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-06-17

grower of the best fruit for his skill
| but which assures the consumer of ;
! high and uniform quality. The Elk
! change maintains offices in all of tn,
principal cities of the country. and i,
/ the European capitals, through which
| the product is distributed Through
| these offices the growers in California
are enabled to get accurate infor1na.
| ton concerning the condition of til,
| market at the points of consumption
| This cooperative system enables tn.
| growers to market their product will
ali the advantage of modern method:
of business which are usually accred
| tied only to trusts" The Exchange
is not a trust, however, in that it doe:
not fix prices and that its work is
done without contemplation of prof.
for the central organization. Tbs
packing, handling and distribution OF
the fruit is done at cost. This method
has reduced the cost of packing and
marketing from seventy-five cents to
thirty-five cents a box, despite the
greatly increased cost of packing
materials.
The annual business of the exchange
has grown so that its net receipts are
now more than $12,000,000 annually.
OF course this exchange does not hand
lie all of the output of the citrus region.
Ten years ago its shipments were %
per cent of the total. This year they
will be more than 60 per cent. The
larger private growers handle their
own fruit and there are other CO.
operative associations which take care
of the output from many small grow
ers. Including these, about 80 per cent
of the total crop is marketed on the
cooperative or direct basis and only
20 per cent is handled by commission
merchants. The Improvement of con-
ditions brought about by cooperation,
however, extends to the whole section
and every grower is benefited by the
application of progressive econom c
science to the business of selling
oranges.
Progress is never content and never
stops. The California Fruit Growers
Exchange, now that it has a profitable
entrance to the markets of the country,
is engaged in efforts to improve the
market by increasing the demand for
it's product. The first attempt ever
made by a systematic advertising
campaign to increase the consumption
of a natural product of the soil is to
be credited to this organization.
The experiment was tried last month.
Iowa was selected as the state for the
trial, on account of the fact that the
office of the Exchange in Des Moines
covers the entire state and does not
lap over into any other state. Other
offices include two or more states, or
are limited to only a section of
state.
A special train loaded with oranges
from the four thousand cooperative
orange groves of Southern California
was despatched from Los Angeles to
Des Moines. Daily newspapers in
every Iowa city heralded the coming
of the iowa Orange Special' in half
page advertisements paid for by the
Exchange. This was supplemented
by advertisements of the local fruit
dealers announcing a special "Orange
week" Oranges were extol1ed as:
Just the spring tonic needed for your
self and children. Nothing in the way
of fruit has so much tonic value as
orange juice. An orange with every
meal means increased appetite, better
digestion, a clearer brain and a better
constitution in every way. Oranges
are prescribed by physicians for the
medicinal properties and for their food
value to nerve and brain. All during
the warm enervating spring and sum
mer weather. orange juice is most cool
ing and refreshing"
The best skill of the ad-writer was
employed, the dates of the orange
week were emphasized, and the de-
mand was made that the consumer see
that the name of the California Fruit
Growers Exchange was on the box.
The result was a wonderful stimulation
of the habit of orange eating in Iowa.
The advertising will be kept up in a
smaller way for a while. If the orange
in Iowa is permanently
increased, as the heads of the Exchange
believe it will be, then this advertising
campaign will be extended to other
parts of the country and will be con-
tinued indefinitely The theory is that
people would eat more oranges and
other fruit if their attention were call
ed to it by the same methods which
have so greatly increased the con-
of cereal breakfast foods.
Systematic advertising of a natural
product of the soil has not been tried
before. Usually the art of the manu-
the manufacturers money which has
paid for the publicity. IF the orange
growers. by their cooperation, can in
crease the consumption by advertising,
the success of their experiment will be
another step upward in the march of
Progress.
Truly, progressive science has done
wonders for the citrus fruit section of
California. The beautiful orange groves
with their trim trees of dark green
with golden globes, tell a
story of the conquest of the arid
desert, of the conquest of pest and
of the triumph of the hOrti-
culturist in improving natures own
product, of the humiliation of distance
which intervenes between the grower
and the eater. In their rich beauty
of green and gold these groves typify
the health and wealth of Americas
garden-the valleys of Southern Cali
fornia.