Brooker, John R.

Eastwood, David B.

Gray, Morgan D.

English

Research Papers in Economics

Fresh Vegetable Price Relationships at Shipping Point,
Wholesale Terminal Markets, and Retail Outlets:
A Case Study in Tennessee
by
DavidB, Eastwood
Professor
Departmentof AgriculturalEconomicsand Rural Sociology
Universityof Tennessee
John R. Brooker
Professor
Departmentof AgriculturalEconomicsand Rural Sociology
Universityof Tennessee
MorganD. Gray
ComputerAnalyst
Departmentof AgriculturalEconomicsand Rural Sociology
Universityof Tennessee
The health of the food distribution system
depends, to a large extent, on the linkages
between markets. This is particularly true for
highly perishable fresh produce. To date, com-
pleted studies have been limited by the data
sources used to test the hypotheses. A research
initiativejust begun under the Scan Data Project
umbrellaisdesignedto addressthisproblem. The
goal is to re-examine retail-farm linkages for
selectedfkeshproduce. Three uniquefeaturesare
associatedwiththe research. First, the typeretail
level datahave not beenused elsewhere. Second,
the time period for decisionmaking is more con-
sistent with the planninghorizons associatedwith
the markets. Third, the emphasisisonproduceof
interestto Tennessee agriculture, but the method-
ology couldbe replicated in other areas.
loumd of Food Distribution Reseavh
There are two broad components of the
research. Initial interest centers on descriptive
analyses of the data for the three markets. The
objective is to obtain preliminary information
aboutseasonalpatterns, trends, andpossibleinter-
actions among the markets. Developing and
testing a theoretical model of retail-farm linkages
are the objectivesof the second component.
Data for the shippingpoint markets will be
gatheredthrough a TennesseeExperimentStation
survey. Thesedata shouldcover 1992, 1991,and
possibly earlier years. Weekly wholesale level
data are available for the Atlanta, Baltimore,
Cincinnati, and Chicago wholesale markets
through the USDA’sMarket News. Retail level
data can be drawn from the Scan Data Project’s
historicalrecord that beginswiththe week ending
May 14, 1988.
Februsry 93/page 185Somecodingof the wholesaledatahasbeen
completed and compared with the supermarket
scan data. Preliminary plots of the prices of
tomatoes and green peppers display significant
differences by type of produce. Correlations
between retail item movement and retail and
wholesaleprices for the current andone- andtwo-
week lags also indicate disparate results. An
inference is that separate models may need to be
developedfor each fresh produce commodity.
February93/page 186 Journalof Food Distribution Research

FRESH VEGETABLE PRICE RELATIONSHIPS AT SHIPPING POINT, WHOLESALE TERMINAL MARKETS, AND RETAIL OUTLETS: A CASE STUDY IN TENNESSEE

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