The Food Marketing Industries -- Recent and Prospective Structural Changes

Excerpts from the report: One outstanding characteristic of the food marketing industries has been growth--growth to serve a burgeoning urban population and an expanding agricultural output. The volume of food products marketed for domestic consumption has increased by more than two-fifths since World War II. Export markets for these products have also grown. And the increase in the output of services performed by the food marketing industries has been greater than the growth in physical volume because of added marketing services, per unit of product handled. This growth has been associated with major changes in the structure of the food marketing industries. Expansion in population and in agricultural production in many areas has created needs for new facilities and business enterprises. Growth facilitated the adoption of new technology. Growing markets made possible economies of scale. One of the most significant structural changes has been the rise of supermarkets and large food retailing organizations. Besides producing great changes in the retailing of food, these large retail organizations have affected the wholesaling and processing of food products and even the selling of farm products. Another structural change of note has been the trend to fewer but larger establishments--not only in retailing, but also in most food processing and in the assembly of farm products. Technological developments such as changes in equipment and improved transportation and communication did much to intensify this trend.