Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1926-12-30
SURVEY SHOWS NEED FOR
IMPROVING RETAIL MEAT
MARKETING in COUNTRY

Need for improvements in retail
meat marketing, including better
business methods in operating stores.
the use of adequate equipment and
refrigeration, a reduction in labor
turnover, and the education of con-
sumers to a knowledge of grades of
meats, is urged by the Department Of
Agriculture following survey of the
retail meat industry in 20 cities over
the United States.
Fifty percent of nearly $500 house
wives. declared that their dealers
handled either the best or very good
quality of meat, when as matter of
fact only approximately SO per cent
of the cattle slaughtered were proba-
bly, of these qualities, the department
says.
The survey was made under an APP
preparation especially for this pur-
pose, and was made in three parts in
Guiding methods and practices of re-
failing meats, margins, expenses, and
preferences in the purchase and con-
profits, and consumers habits and
sumption of meat.
Of the three groups, including pro-
Queer, distributor, and consumer, the
consumer is recognized as welding
the strongest influence on production
and distribution. More definite
knowledge of consumer preferences
and buying habits is considered of
value as an aid in adjusting produc-
ton and distribution.
The department urges stringent en-
forcement of practical sanitary regu-
| lations in connection with the meth
DDS and practices of retailing meats.
Most cities have ordinances govern
ing sanitation, but in many cases the
department found that enforcement
has not been fully effective. AIDE
quate retail equipment and refrigera-
ton, accounts and careful bookkeep-
ing, and the elimination of unscrupu-
lous dealers are recommended.
There are signs, says the depart
ment, of an increased interest among
consumers in learning about cuts and
qualities, and it is to the ultimate
interest of the meat industry that re-
tail dealers take an active part in
healping customers to learn what con-
stitutes quality in meat. Selling
meats by grades is recommended as
an effective step toward attaining
many desirable ends in the meat in
dustry.
The portion of the retail price of
meat absorbed by retail agencies is
reported to average from % to Is
per cent. Yet, almost 81 per cent of
142 individual retail meat markets of
all types of stores and volumes of
business were found to be operated
at loss when wages for proprietors
were included in total expense. Loss
es were incurred in 10 of Is stores
studied in detail where annual sales
were less than $4,000, it being ap-
parent that in such small-sized stores
the total amounts returned to the
proprietors were not equal to the
wages usually paid meat cutters.
Sixty-two per cent of the house.
wives of the American white group
indicated that steaks and chops were
bought because of their palatability,
40 per cent stated this as the reason
for buying roasts, and 2S.4 per cent
assigned this reason for using boiling
meat. Economy was given greatest
weight by housewives as a reason for
using roasts and boiling meat than
for using steaks and chops. Meat
was served in the households of the
American white group an average of
FL times per week at breakfast and
lunch, and Sc times per week at din
ner.