Milford chronicle., 1959-01-09
Food Company Head
Praises The Industry
(continued from page one)

@I ana impressed with the great
progress in our industry during
the past ten years due to research.
chronological advances and the
continuing drive for greater eff
ciencSAs a result, there has been
a steady and substantial reduction
in the amount of time the average
American must work to earn the
money to pay for his food.
But if we are to continue to full
fill our public responsibility and
make our full contribution to the
national economy, we must i'm
prove upon even this stellar per-
formance in the year ahead"
Mr.. Burger cited five major facets
of the industry's accomplishment
during the past year:
/. There are almost 5000, 900 more
people in the United States today
than at the end of 1857, and the
food industry has had to provide
the food and facilities to serve this
growing population.
2. The food industry did great
job in holding food prices down de-
spite rising costs. During the month
of November the cost of food de-
clined for the fourth straight
month, at a time when the overall
consumer cost-of- living index was
creeping steadily upward to hit an
all-time high of 1899.
8. To provide Improved service,
retailers built thousands of new
stores and did major remodeling
on additional thousands of exist
ing outlets. This represented a total
investment of well over 81 billion
in construction and inventory.
4. The trend towards built-in
services to simplify the housewives
tasks through package mixes, pre-
packaging of foods and the ex-
pansion of the frozen food indus
try continued et a phenomenal
pace
S. The entire food industry ad-
hered to its traditional low-profit
rate. Chain retailers, for instance,
continued to operate at the low
rate of 125 cents profit on each
dollar of sales, while the profit
rate for food manufacturers was
two-and-a-half-cen
"All these factors served to keep
the American public the best-fed
people in the world, Mr.. Burger
said. per capita food consumption
is approximately ons-eighth high
er than in the years Immediately
preceding World War IT..
Mr.. Burger attributed this pro-
press to two major factors: first, the
industry's recognition of its public
service responsibility; and the in
tense nature of they competition
existing in the food business.
Some idea of the healthy COM
petition existing in the food busi-
ness he said, may be gained from
the fact that there are about 10000
food manufacturers, $500 Gamers
and frozen food packers. 5000 meat
packers, 6,400 bakeries and 385,000
food stores in the United States.
And there are millions of farm
families producing. the food to feed
America. The result is readily ap-
parent in the wide choice of foods,
brands and retail outlets available
to any consumer"
Commenting on the need for fur
ther progress, Mr.. Burger empha-
sized the fact that the food indus
try is dealing in the prime neces-
sity of life that takes 25 to 80 per
cent of the family's budget.
"Here lies our great opportunity
and responsibility" he said. To-day
the average family budget is sub
iect to many strains. In many cases
income has been reduced A large
part of the expendable income of
most families has already been COM
mitted for payment on insurance,
homes, automobiles, home appli-
ances and other things that they
bought on time. In all cases, the
problem is complicated by the in
dictionary pressures that have re-
suited in higher costs and reduced
purchasing power in the dollar.
ut is obvious that in such situ-
alton the food industry must con-
tinue its never-ending search for
more efficient cost-saving methods
all along the line"
In facing up to this challenge,
Mr.. Burger said that the industry
is confronted with the problem of
rising COSTS Latest government
figures show that in the past ten
years labor costs, which represent
approximately half the entire mar
keting cost, have increased As per
sent Rail transportation costs have
increased 36 per cent; and rents,
utilities and other overhead costs
have gone up Al per cent, he said
No matter how good our per-
formance was in 1858, we cannot
rest on our past record" he said.
This is a fast-lnoving world and
the public's needs and tastes are
constantly changing. We must be
flexible in the future, as we have
been in the past, to recognize, and
adapt our operations to, these
changing needs and tastes. But
always with the basic policy of
more good food for the customers
money in mind.
eff we do our work well-if
through efficiencies and economies
we are able to keep the cost of food
from soaring-we will not only be
making It possible for our custo-
mers to eat better, but we will also
be making a. contribution to the
national economy by leaving more
money in the family budget for the
purchase of all the other things
people want.