University Missourian., 1914-06-04
COLUMBIA BAKERS
WANT LOCAL TRADE
More Than One-Fourth of
Bread Used Here
Shipped in.
4,765 LOAVES A D A Y
Grocers Say Chapter Houses
and Professors Want City
Product.
4,765 LOAVES A D A Y

1ak1nS the mOntn OF May as OASIS,
the amount of bread bought from the
bakeries and grocery stores varies
with the seasons. Columbia people buy
4765 lOaves of bread each day. The
three bakeries total daily output of
1850 lOaves. Nine grocery stores that
ship In bread from Kansas City, st.
Louis or Jefferson City average 1,2l6
loaves each day. This means that 27.6
per cent of the bread used in Columbia
is shipped in from other cities. 1t
means that nearly $50 worth of bread
business goes out of town every day,
and that the local bakers are the los
ers.
All of these figures are estimates,
but some of them are based on the es-
Inmates of two or more men in differ
ent stores, and some are based on bills
from the city bakeries.
The questions that at once arise are:
Why do the grocers ship in bread in
stead of using homemade bread, and,
why don't the local baker get all this
business? 1t is easily seen that the
Out-Of-tOwn business is enough to JUS
tify the investment of considerable
capital.
The GrOcer's Viewpoint.
The answers to these questions come
from the grocers and the bakers. First
the grocer's viewpoint, which is prac-
tically the same in all cases.
Every grocer that now ships in bread
would rather use home bread. The
local bread costs less. The city bread
is shipped to the stores, express paid.
at 25 loaves (five-cent size) for dol
lar. The price of local bread varies
from 25 to % loaves for dollar and
one bakery sometimes will sell 80
lOaves for a dollar. However, there is
a difference i'm loaves which few
notice.
Most grOcers sell bread at five cents
a loaf. Wrapping, handling and deliv-
ering costs from 13 to Is per cent,
according to one grocer. This leaves
only per cent profit on the shipped
in bread. One grocer, who ships in
large amount, sells 1t at Az cents a
loaf, so it is clear that he hardly gets
paid for handling it. If there is any
bread left over, the city bakeries do
not take it back, as the local baker
does, and the grocer loses.
Furthermore, nearly all of the gro
GERS expressly said that they would
rather keep the business in Columbia
If they could get the same quality of
bread at the same price. Plainly, as
far as the financial reasons are con-
cerned, every grocer would rather buy
Columbia bread.
Can't Make Some Kinds.
Salt-risen bread is a large part Of
the bread that is shipped in, and none
of the local bakers make this kind OF
bread successfully. One grocer said
that he believed the local baker did
not get enough for his bread to be
able to make good bread. If he was
paid more, he could then afford to
make a better loaf. In the final anal
ysis, if the consumers of bread, could
be induced to ask for Columbia bread,
they would gladly handle it.
Now the bakers viewpoint. Nearly
every grocery store handles bread
from some local bakery. In many
stores no other bread than local bread
is handled. 1t depends on the quality
of the trade. Many bakers say that it
is principally the professors and fra
ternities and the people south Of
Broadway who ask for the city made
bread. Their bread gives perfect satis-
faction, or at least sells, in other
places. One baker sells nearly all his
output direct from his wagon or his
shop. He has very small accounts
with only three stores, one of them
a negro store.
Another baker says that he sells
some bread to nes all of the gro
GERS. The third baker has accounts
with five or six good stores. Several
of the Srocers said that they thought
the bread made by this baker was
about as good as that shipped in, but
that it was not delivered to them and
that he could not supply them with
large amount. Also, their customers
did not ask for this bread, as they
did not seem to know of its excellence.
The Bakers Viewpoint
The bakers viewpoint is that the
grocer does not give him a fair deal.
He says his bread is as good as the
city bread. A few picayunish custo-
mers ask for the city bread, the gro
-. A. h,y S0 IoaveS n he huys