ABSTRACT

Packing costs increased during the 1979-80 season, with the
greatest increases shown in materials and other direct operating
expense. Packing costs for two 4/5-bu. cartons of Florida oranges
and grapefruit were estimated at $2.92 and $2.89, an increase of
11.0 and 10.2 percent above 1978-79. Tangerine and tangelo packing
costs for two 4/5-bu. cartons were estimated at $3.74 and $3.41,
an increase of 11.7 percent for tangerines and 17.5 percent for
tangelos. The 1979-80 estimates were based on accounting information
obtained from 29 Florida packinghouses.

Key words: Fresh citrus packing
trends, fresh fruit, container costs,

costs, packinghouse
labor costs..

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to express our appreciation to the participant
packinghouses for their excellent cooperation, and to Mrs. Theresa
Zerr for her clerical and secretarial assistance.

cost

ABSTRACT

Packing costs increased during the 1979-80 season, with the
greatest increases shown in materials and other direct operating
expense. Packing costs for two 4/5-bu. cartons of Florida oranges
and grapefruit were estimated at $2.92 and $2.89, an increase of
11.0 and 10.2 percent above 1978-79. Tangerine and tangelo packing
costs for two 4/5-bu. cartons were estimated at $3.74 and $3.41,
an increase of 11.7 percent for tangerines and 17.5 percent for
tangelos. The 1979-80 estimates were based on accounting information
obtained from 29 Florida packinghouses.

Key words: Fresh citrus packing
trends, fresh fruit, container costs,

costs, packinghouse
labor costs..

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to express our appreciation to the participant
packinghouses for their excellent cooperation, and to Mrs. Theresa
Zerr for her clerical and secretarial assistance.

cost

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES . . . . .

SUMMARY . . . . .

SAMPLE FIRMS . . . . .

DATA COLLECTION . . . .

WEIGHTED AVERAGE PACKING AND BULK HANDLING COSTS

COST TRENDS . . . . .

SELECTED REFERENCES . . . .

LIST OF TABLES

Table
1 Distribution of citrus handled by class of fruit, 29
Florida packinghouses, 1979-80 season . . .
2 Distribution of the sample packinghouses by total volume
packed compared with the industry distribution of firms
in Florida by total volume packed, 1979-80 season . .
3 Percent of total fruit received which was packed for
shipment by kind of fruit and packinghouse location; 27
packinghouses, 1979-80 season . . . .
4 Volume of citrus handled and total packing and selling
cost by type of container, 29 Florida packinghouses,
1979-80 season . . . . . .
5 Weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida
oranges per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent by type of container,
1979-80 season . . . . . .
6 Weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida
grapefruit per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent by type of container,
1979-80 season . . . . . .

ii

Page
ii

1

1

2

6

12

18

Page

3

4

4

5

7

9

LIST OF TABLES--Continued

Table Page
7 Weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida
tangelos and tangerines per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent
by type of container, 1979-80 season . . .. 11
8 Weighted average costs of handling bulk Florida citrus,
1979-80 season . . . .. . .13
9 Weighted average costs of handling Florida citrus
eliminations, 1979-80 season . . . 14
10 Percentage change in the items that make up the total
cost of packing 1 3/5-bushel Florida oranges and grape-
fruit in two 4/5-bushel cartons, 1979-80 over 1978-79 15
11 Total cost per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent for packing and
selling Florida citrus by type of pack, 1969-70
through 1979-80 seasons . . . .... 16
12 Value of packed 4/5-bushel cartons of Florida oranges and
grapefruit relative to packing costs, years 1967-68
through 1979-80 seasons, 1 3/5-bushel equivalent boxes 17

ESTIMATED COSTS OF PACKING AND SELLING
FRESH FLORIDA CITRUS, 1979-80 SEASON

R. Clegg Hooks and Richard L. Kilmer

SUMMARY

Packing costs for two 4/5-bushel cartons of Florida oranges and
grapefruit are estimated at $2.921 and $2.89, respectively, for the
1979-80 season. The estimates are 11.0 and 10.2 percent above 1978-79
season estimates. Tangerine packing costs for two 4/5-bushel cartons
are estimated at $3.74, up 11.7 percent from previous season estimates,
and the cost to pack two 4/5-bushel cartons of tangelos was $3.41 an
increase of 17.5 percent.
Packing costs increased during the 1979-80 season, with the
greatest increase shown in materials and other direct operating expense.
The 1979-80 estimates are based on accounting information obtained
from 29 Florida packinghouses.

SAMPLE FIRMS

The 29 sample Florida packinghouses packed 18,212,664 equivalent

Beginning with the 1975-76 season, tangelo packing costs were
reported separately from orange packing costs. This change in reporting
will cause packing costs for oranges to increase relatively
less than if tangelo packing costs had continued to be included in
oranges. This is predicated on information in this report which shows
average tangelo packing cost to be greater than average orange packing
cost (Table 4).

R. CLEGG HOOKS is an assistant in agricultural economics and
RICHARD L. KILMER is an assistant professor in food and resource
economics.

2

1 3/5-bushel boxes or approximately 50.0 percent of total Florida
fresh fruit shipments [2]. As indicated in Table 1, the sample
firms provided information on a total of over 39.7 million boxes
(including eliminations and direct-to-cannery fruit) or 14.2
percent of total Florida citrus production [2, p.8].
The distribution of firms by size category shown in Table 2
indicates that the proportion of existing larger firms represented
in the sample is greater than the proportion of smaller firms in the
sample. The average volume packed per packinghouse for all 151 Florida
packinghouses operating during the 1979-80 season was 241,322 equivalent
1 3/5-bushel boxes [2], while the average sample packinghouse packed
628,023 equivalent 1 3/5-bushel boxes. This was 69.8 percent of the
total volume that went through houses with the balance composed of
eliminations (Table 3). The number and type of firms in the sample
are restricted by availability of accurate data and firms' willingness
to provide information.

DATA COLLECTION

Most of the firms provided information from their auditors' per-
box cost analysis reports. The average costs of packing the more
important containers reported by the sample firms are shown in Table 4.
For those firms that did not allocate costs to different types
of fruit or packages, per-box cost distributions are based on infor-
mation provided by houses that keep more detailed records. Quite
often auditors' reports did not show labor costs categories and it
was necessary to distribute total per-box labor costs into the cate-
gories shown in the following tables. Again the labor costs distri-
bution was based on information available from packinghouses
showing costs for each labor category.
In general, the firms tended to use similar methods for
allocating materials, general and administrative, and selling
expenses, but labor and other direct operating expenses were
allocated by various methods.
Two different auditing philosophies were reflected by the labor
and direct operating cost allocations shown in the auditors' reports.

Table l.--Distribution of citrus handled by class gf fruit,
29 Florida packinghouses, 1979-80 season

Class of fruit

Total volume

1 3/5-bushel equivalent

9 East Coast packinghouses
Packed fruit
Cannery fruit through house
Total through house
Direct, grove-to-cannery
Total

20 Interior packinghouses
Packed fruit
Cannery fruit through house
Total through house
Direct, grove-to-cannery
Total

29 packinghouses
Packed fruit
Cannery fruit through house
Total through house
Direct, grove-to-cannery
Total

5,036,112
1,629,045
6,665,157
443,457
7,108,614

13,176,551
6,257,035
19,433,586
13,112,432
32,546,018

18,212,664
7,886,079
26,098,743
13,555,889
39,654,632

aGrove-to-cannery fruit data were not obtained from 15 houses;
had these been-included, it would have increased the volume going
directly to cannery. Two firms did not supply information on eliminated
fruit.
bcannery fruit through the house is fruit with acceptable
internal quality but does not meet fresh market size or external
appearance standards. Cannery fruit through the house is often
called eliminated fruit or eliminations.

Table 2.--Distribution of the sample packinghouses by total volume
packed compared with the industry distribution of firms
in Florida by total volume packed, 1979-80 season

Percentage of
Number of packinghouses
Total volume Number of packinghouses in the industry
1 3/5-bushel packinghousgs included in included in
equivalent in Florida the sample the sample

Less than 200,000 85 1 1.2
200,001 400,000 33 8 24.2
400,001 600,000 16 7 43.8
Greater than 600,000 17 13 76.5

Total 151 29 19.2

aCalculated from [2].

Table 3.--Percent of total fruit received which was packed for
shipment by kind of fruit and packinghouse location,
27 packinghouses, 1979-80-season

East Coast Interior All
Kind of fruit
houses houses houses

Percent Percent Percent
Oranges 65.6 63.1 63.8
Grapefruit 76.1 67.2 71.4
Tangerines 65.6 63.3 63.4
Tangelos 81.0 69.8 71.1

All fruit 75.6 67.8 69.8

aTwo firms did not report eliminations.

Table 4.--Volume of citrus handled and total packing and selling cost by type of
container, 29 Florida packinghouses, 1979-80 season

Total weighted
Commodity and Sample Total average packing
type of container firms volume and selling
cost per box

Oranges
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton
5-1b. poly. bag in master carton
5-1b. vexar bag in master carton
8-1b. poly. bag in master carton
8-1b. vexar bag in master carton
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton--export
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton--heavy duty
2/5-bu. carton
Bulk in truck sales
Field Box
Miscellaneous containers
Total packed oranges
Grapefruit
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton
5-1b. poly. bag in master carton
5-1b. vexar bag in master carton
8-1b. poly. bag in master carton
8-1b. vexar bag in master carton
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton--export
2/5-bu. carton
Bulk In truck sales
Field Box
Miscellaneous containers
Total packed grapefruit
Tangerines
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton--heavy duty
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton--export
4/5-bu. Bruce box
4/5-bu. Bruce box-flat
Bulk in truck sales
Miscellaneous containers
Total packed tangerines

Tangalos
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton
4/5-bu. fiberboard carton--heavy
5-lb. poly. bag in master carton
5-1b. vexar bag in master carton
2/5-bu. carton
Bulk in truck sales
Miscellaneous containers
Total tangelos packed

Total packed fruit

------ 1 3/5-bushel equivalent-----

3,040,825 2.92
589,266 3.84
1,586,502 4.10
27,270 3.80
42,470 3.88
36,635 3.20
682,170 2.93
46,018 4.57
63,245 1.84
19,385 1.79
1,014 3.66
6,134,600 3.33

4,876,956
767,778
814,720
55,488
1,520
2,151,990
32,215
44,936
57,855
293,392
9,096,850

327,688
876,536
3,920
203,827
159,116
1,583
22 826
-1,595,496

12 589,404
duty 6 641.465
11 79,448
8 51,378
3 7,829
3 1,266
3 14,928
16 1,385,718

29 18,212,664

2.89
3.64
4.03
3.46
3.77
3.20
4.39
1.75
1.66
2.43
n-TT

3.74
3.47
3.58
3.78
4.47
2.04
3.70
3.66

3.41
2.83
4.07
4.32
5.13
2.17
3.58
3.23

3.24

3,204,972
3,391,419
832,772
456,916
7,886,079

Bulk fruit through house to cannery
Oranges
Grapefruit
Tangerines
Tangelos
Total bulk through house

One philosophy is based on the premise that all labor and other
direct operating costs should be allocated to the packed fruit. The
other philosophy is based on the premise that at least some of the
direct operating costs (unloading, grading, etc.) should be borne by
2
the eliminations
Of the 29 firms in the sample, 16 firms supplied information
consistent with the first philosophy, 11 firms supplied information
consistent with the second philosophy and two firms did not report
eliminations handling costs. No correction or adjustment of either
auditing system was made so that the averages shown in the following
tables reflect both auditing philosophies. The procedures used
in calculating the averages shown in this report are the same as
those used in previous reports in this series.
In all tables, administrative expense includes management and
office salaries, office expense, auto and travel, interest paid,
telephone and telegraph. Selling includes sales salaries, travel,
telephone and telegraph, and brokerage. Other items include Florida
citrus advertising tax, federal-state inspection, precooling,
coloring and waxing, and various industry assessments.

WEIGHTED AVERAGE PACKING AND BULK HANDLING

The weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida citrus
in various types of containers are presented in Tables 5,6 and 7.
Detailed costs are shown for only the more important containers
listed in Table 4. Costs for the 4/5-bushel fiberboard carton for
Interior and East Coast houses are shown separately.
The costs shown are the weighted average costs for the sample
packinghouses, i.e., the total monetary costs of each item for all
houses were divided by the total number of boxes packed. The use of
weighted averages tends to result in a lower estimated cost than
would the simple average because larger houses, which usually have

Eliminations are fruit intended for fresh use but not packed
because of exterior appearance or size. Most eliminations are sent
to processing plants.

Table 5.--Weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida oranges
per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent by type of container, 1979-80 season

4/5-bushel fiberboard box
Type of Container
East Interior All Export
Coast houses houses all houses

Number of packinghouses 6 19 25 5
Average volume packed
1 3/5-bushel equivalent 25,776 151,903 121,633 7,327
Item of Cost --------$ per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent--------
Materials
Containers 0.9851 0.8482 0.8552 1.1201
Other materials 0.0500 0.0309 0.0319 0.1016
Total materials 1.0351 0.8791 0.8871 1.2217
Labor
Receive, truck, dump 0.0915 0.0679 0.0689 0.0612
Cratemaking & labeling 0.0972 0.0890 0.0895 0.0777
Foremen, graders, others 0.3155 0.2454 0.2490 0.2474
Packing 0.2193 0.2100 0.2104 0.1992
Truck, check, load 0.1724 0.1615 0.1620 0.1260
Payroll taxes, comp. ins. 0.2247 0.1306 0.1353 0.1059
Total labor 1.1206 0.9042 0.9151 0.8174
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water 0.0701 0.0596 0.0601 0.0524
Repairs & maintenance 0.2490 0.1666 0.1708 0.1412
Misc. supplies & expense 0.1246 0.0629 0.0660 0.0644
Total other direct 0.4437 0.2891 0.2969 0.2580
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty 0.0521 0.0274 0.0287 0.0168
Taxes & licenses 0.0323 0.0246 0.0250 0.0241
Depreciation & rent 0.1922 0.1304 0.1335 0.1316
Total indirect operating 0.2766 0.1824 0.1872 0.1725
Total Packing Expense 2.8760 2.2548 2.2863 2.4696
Administrative 0.2654 0.1209 0.1283 0.1569
Selling 0.3735 0.1720 0.1823 0.2226
Other Items 0.3583 0.3258 0.3274 0.3494
Total Costs 3.8732 2.8735 2.9243 3.1985

Range in total costs--low 3.4882 2.4166 2.4166 3.0704
--high 4.1268 4.5541 4.5541 3.4808
Standard deviation 0.1823 0.4120 0.4594 0.1507

Continued

a
Table 5.--Weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida oranges per
1 3/5-bushel equivalent by type of container, 1979-80 season--
Continued

5-lb. poly. 8-lb. poly. 5-1b. vexar 8-1b. vexar
bag in bag in bag in bag in
Type of Container master master master master
carton carton carton carton

Number of packinghouses 18 15 18 15
Average volume packed
(1 3/5-bushel equivalent) 32,737 1,818 88,139 2,818
Item of cost ------$ per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent---------
Materials
Containers 1.6212 1.6784 1.8731 1.8495
Other materials 0.0367 0.0398 0.0366 0.0276
Total materials 1.6579 1.7182 1.9097 1.8771
Labor
Receive, truck, dump 0.0680 0.0674 0.0661 0.0573
Cratemaking & labeling 0.0952 0.0954 0.0892 0.0834
Foremen, graders, others 0.3173 0.2979 0.3130 0.2685
Packing 0.3174 0.2971 0.3242 0.2892
Truck, check, load 0.1410 0.1424 0.1441 0.1252
Payroll taxes, comp. ins. 0.1638 0.1477 0.1563 0.1327
Total labor 1.1027 1.0479 1.0929 0.9563
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water 0.0650 0.0615 0.0613 0.0564
Repairs & maintenance 0.1839 0.1781 0.1906 0.1675
Misc, supplies & expense 0.0658 0.0605 0.0602 0.0605
Total other direct 0.3147 0.3001 0.3131 0.2844
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty 0.0245 0.0233 0.0260 0.0226
Taxes & licenses 0.0254 0.0180 0.0252 0.0248
Depreciation & rent 0.1330 0.1047 0.1365 0.1197
Total indirect operating 0.1829 0.1460 0.1877 0.1671
Total Packing Expense 3.2582 3.2122 3.5034 3.2849
Administrative 0.1023 0.0999 0.1020 0.0923
Selling 0.1761 0.1826 0.1765 0.2003
Other Items 0.3038 0.3096 0.3157 0.2981
Total Costs 3.8404 3.8043 4.0976 3.8756

Range in total costs--low 3.2276 3.1806 3.5966 3.5106
--high 5.6576 5.3582 6.1201 5.6463
Standard deviation 0.4727 0.3306 0.4789 0.3963

aSee footnote 1, page 1.

Table 6.--Weighted average costs of packing and selling Florida grapefruit
per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent by type of container, 1979-80 season

4/5-bushel fiberboard box
Type of Container East Interior All Export
Coast Houses Houses all Houses

Number of packinghouses 8 19 27 15
Average volume packed
(1 3/5-bushel equivalent) 328,798 118,241 180,628 143,466
Item of cost -------$ per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent------
Materials
Containers 0.9273 0.8495 0.8914 1.0842
Other materials 0.0307 0.0207 0.0261 0.0530
Total materials 0.9580 0.8702 0.9175 1.1372
Labor
Receive, truck, dump 0.0707 0.0645 0.0678 0.0705
Cratemaking & labeling 0.0919 0.0843 0.0884 0.0837
Foremen, graders, others 0.2286 0.1805 0.2065 0.2240
Packing 0.1860 0.1734 0.1802 0.1729
Truck, check, load 0.1557 0.1380 0.1475 0.1479
Payroll taxes, comp. ins. 0.1736 0.1160 0.1471 0.1444
Total labor 0.9065 0.7567 0.8375 0.8434
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water 0.0479 0.0453 0.0467 0.0455
Repairs & maintenance 0.1592 0.1174 0.1400 0.1635
Misc. supplies & expense 0.0707 0.0546 0.0633 0.0553
Total other direct 0.2778 0.2173 0.2500 0.2643
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty 0.0359 0.0150 0.0263 0.0361
Taxes & insurance 0.0246 0.0151 0.0202 0.0162
Depreciation & rent 0.1161 0.0838 0.1012 0.1364
Total indirect operating 0.1766 0.1139 0.1477 0.1887
Total Packing Expense 2.3189 1.9581 2.1527 2.4336
Administrative 0.2278 0.1084 0.1728 0.1810
Selling 0.3304 0.1740 0.2583 0.2428
Other Items 0.3176 0.2959 0.3077 0.3416
Total Costs 3.1947 2.5364 2.8915 3.1990

Range in total costs--low 2.2856 2.3260 2.2856 2.4847
--high 4.3580 3.9050 4.3580 4.5761
Standard deviation 0.6156 0.2612 0.5861 0.5388

Continued

Table 6.--Weighted average
per 1 3/5-bushel
Continued

costs of packing and selling Florida grapefruit
equivalent by type of container, 1979-80 season--

5-1b. poly. 8-1b. poly. 5-1b. vexar 8-1b. vexar
bag in bag in bag in bag in
Type of Container master master master master
carton carton carton carton

Number of packinghouses 22 12 20 8
Average volume packed
(1 3/5-bushel equivalent) 34,899 4,624 40,736 190

Item of cost
Materials
Containers
Other materials
Total materials
Labor
Receive, truck, dump
Cratemaking & labeling
Foremen, graders, others
Packing
Truck, check, load
Payroll taxes, comp. ins.
Total labor
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water
Repairs & maintenance
Misc. supplies & expense
Total other direct
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty
Taxes & licenses
Depreciation & rent
Total indirect operating
Total Packing Expense
Administrative
Selling
Other Items
Total Costs

--------$ per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent-------

1.6147
0.0325
1.6472

0.0636
0.0938
0.2770
0.2963
0.1307
0.1497
1.0111

0.0586
0.1515
0.0589
0.2690

0.0188
0.0200
0.1047
0.1435
3.0708
0.0969
0.1775
0.2943
3.6395

1.6729
0.0051
1.6780

0.0469
0.0742
0.2954
0.2772
0.0640
0.1339
0.8916

0.0486
0.1162
0.0652
0.2300

0.0127
0.0244
0.0872
0.1243
2.9239
0.0475
0.1969
0.2873
3.4556

1.9847
0.0343
2.0190

0.0654
0.0926
0.2898
0.3032
0.1304
0.1552
1.0366

0.0567
0.1630
0.0584
0.2781

0.0183
0.0181
0.1003
0.1367
3.4704
0.0942
0.1694
0.2953
4.0293

1.8648
0.0279
1.8927

0.0632
0.0891
0.2723
0.2727
0.1160
0.1427
0.9560

0.0482
0.1615
0.0518
0.2615

0.0190
0.0163
0.0982
0.1335
3.2437
0.0844
0.1583
0.2808
3.7672

Range in total costs--low 3.2453 3.1966 3.6146 3.3468
--high 5.4406 4.9146 5.7453 3.9299
Standard deviation 0.3365 0.1386 0.3145 0.1397

Table 7.--Weighted average costs of packing and selling
and tangerines per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent by
1979-80 season

Florida tangelos
type of container,

Tangelos Tangerines
Type of Container 4/5-bushel 4/5-bushel
carton carton

Number of packinghouses 12 8
Average volume packed
(1 3/5-bushel equivalent) 49,117 40,961

Item of cost
Materials
Containers
Other materials
Total materials
Labor
Receive, truck, dump
Cratemaking & labeling
Foremen, graders, others
Packing
Truck, check, load
Payroll taxes, comp. ins.
Total labor
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water
Repairs & maintenance
Misc. supplies & expense
Total other direct
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty
Taxes & licenses
Depreciation & rent
Total indirect operating
Total Packing Expense
Administrative
Selling
Other Items
Total Costs

-----$ per

0.9230
0.0258
0.9488

0.1075
0.1143
0.3265
0.2574
0.1771
0.1984
1.1812

0.0768
0.2486
0.0863
0.4117

0.0416
0.0257
0.2070
0.2743
2.8160
0.1470
0.1480
0.2986
3.4096

1 3/5-bushel equivalent---

1.1658
0.0261
1.1919

0.0834
0.0939
0.4149
0.2931
0.1127
0.1818
1.1798

0.0763
0.2776
0.0882
0.4421

0.1378
0.0381
0.2274
0.3033
3.1171
0.1284
0.2156
0.2762
3.7373

Range in costs--low 2.7154 3.2623
--high 4.7503 5.1796
Standard deviation 0.4694 0.3819

lower costs, influence the average more than smaller houses.
Not all of the houses pack every container listed in Table 4.
The cost estimates presented in Tables 5,6 and 7 are weighted
averages for the firms packing that container. Because the sample
houses and weights (volumes) change with each container, some of the
cost differences among containers can be attributed to the composition
of firms packing each container. The costs of handling and selling
bulk fruit are shown in Table 8. The weighted average costs allocated
to eliminations are shown in Table 9.

COST TRENDS

Changes in the reported costs of packing oranges and grapefruit
in two 4/5-bushel cartons from the 1978-79 to 1979-80 season are shown
in Table 10. Total packing and selling costs for oranges and grapefruit
increased 11.0 and 10.2 percent. Specifically, material costs and labor
costs increased 15.7 and 14.2 percent for oranges while increasing 14.9
and 7.8 percent for grapefruit. Other direct operating costs and
indirect operating costs increased significantly over last year for
both oranges and grapefruit.
Trends in orange and grapefruit packing costs for the past 11
seasons are reported in Table 11. In general, packing costs have
increased over time including 1979-80.
The relationship between average packing costs and the average
FOB value of packed fruit for two 4/5-bushel cartons of oranges and
grapefruit in the Interior and East Coast regions for the past 13
seasons is shown in Table 12. The changes in the ratio have been
cyclical. The value of fruit has shown greater variability than costs
which have tended to increase over time.

Table 8.--Weighted average costs of handling bulk Florida citrus,
1979-80 season

Bulk in truck sales
Type of Container Orangesa Grapefruit

Number of packinghouses 7 8
Average volume packed
(1 3/5-bushel equivalent) 9,035 5,617
Item of cost -----$ per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent-----
Materials
Containers 0.0000 0.0000
Other materials 0.0020 0.0008
Total materials 0.0020 0.0008
Labor
Receive, truck, dump 0.0721 0.0788
Cratemaking & labeling 0.0092 0.0277
Foremen, graders, others 0.2288 0.2494
Packing 0.1367 0.0841
Truck, check, load 0.0645 0.1054
Payroll taxes, comp. ins. 0.1137 0.1135
Total labor 0.6250 0.6589
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water 0.0412 0.0569
Repairs & maintenance 0.2096 0.1813
Misc. supplies & expense 0.0359 0.0285
Total other direct 0.2867 0.2667
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty 0.0375 0.0294
Taxes & licenses 0.0154 0.0137
Depreciation & rent 0.1309 0.1355
Total indirect operating 0.1838 0.1786
Total Packing Expense 1.0975 1.1050
Administrative 0.1939 0.2227
Selling 0.2168 0.1494
Other Items 0.3356 0.2772
Total Costs 1.8438 1.7543

Range in total costs--low 1.1246 0.9954
--high 2.1645 2.0084
Standard deviation 0.2699 0.2058

aSee footnote 1, page 1.

Table 9.--Weighted average costs 6f handling Florida citrus eliminations,
1979-80 season

Bulk through house to cannery

Orangesa Grapefruit Tangerines Tangelos

Number of packinghouses 23 26 19 13
Average volume packed
(1 3/5-bushel equivalent) 139,346 130,439 43,830 35,147
Item of cost --------$ per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent------
Materials
Containers 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Other materials 0.0072 0.0009 0.0007 0.0000
Total materials 0.0072 0.0009 0.0007 0.0000
Labor
Receive, truck, dump 0.0420 0.0191 0.0634 0.0342
Cratemaking & labeling 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Foremen, graders, others 0.0841 0.0217 0.0990 0.0503
Packing 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Truck, check, load 0.0065 0.0026 0.0033 0.0006
Payroll taxes, comp. ins. 0.0335 0.0087 0.0481 0.0262
Total labor 0.1661 0.0521 0.2138 0.1113
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water 0.0190 0.0056 0.0211 0.0134
Repairs & maintenance 0.0854 0.0203 0.1200 0.0696
Misc. supplies & expense 0.0244 0.0076 0.0207 0.0116
Total other direct 0.1288 0.0335 0.1618 0.0946
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty 0.0148 0.0034 0.0195 0.0062
Taxes & licenses 0.0089 0.0027 0.0097 0.0063
Depreciation & rent 0.0541 0.0162 0.0714 0.0548
Total indirect operating 0.0778 0.0223 0.1006 0.0673
Total Packing Expense 0.3799 0.1088 0.4769 0.2732
Administrative 0.0936 0.1473 0.0929 0.1152
Selling 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Other Items 0.0000 0.0001 0.0005 0.0002
Total Costs 0.4735 0.2562 0.5703 0.3886

Range in total costs--low 0.0106 0.0106 0.0617 0.0617
.-high 1.0714 0.6499 1.4931 0.8271
Standard deviation 0.2983 0.1563 0.4549 0.3263

aSee footnote 1, page 1.

Table 10.--Percentage change in the items that make up the total cost of packing 1 3/5-bushel
Florida oranges and grapefruit in two 4/5-bushel cartons, 1979-80 over 1978-79

Type of fruit Orangesa Grapefruit

Season 1979-80 1978-79 4 Change 1979-80 1978-79 Change

Item of Cost $ per 1 3/5-equivalent Percent $ per 1 3/5-equivalent Percent
Materials
Containers 0.8552 0.7354 + 16.3 0.8914 0.7785 + 14.5
Other materials 0.0319 0.0314 + 1.6 0.0261 0.0203 + 28.6
Total materials 0.8871 0.7668 + 15.7 0.9175 0.7988 + 14.9
Labor
Receive, truck, dump 0.0689 0.0571 + 20.7 0.0678 0.0623 + 8.8
Cratemaking & labeling 0.0895 0.0798 + 12.2 0.0884 0.0856 + 3.3
Foremen, graders, others 0.2490 0.2266 + 9.9 0.2065 0.1821 + 13.4
Packing 0.2104 0.1815 + 15.9 0.1802 0.1720 + 4.8
Truck, check, load 0.1620 0.1292 + 25.4 0.1475 0.1433 + 2.9
Payroll taxes, comp. ins. 0.1353 0.1269 + 6.6 0.1471 0.1318 + 11.6
Total labor 0.9151 0.8011 + 14.2 0.8375 0.7771 + 7.8
Other Direct Operating
Power, lights, water 0.0601 0.0550 + 9.3 0.0467 0.0508 8.1
Repairs & maintenance 0.1708 0.1434 + 19.1 0.1400 0.1175 + 19.1
Misc. supplies & expense 0.0660 0.0539 + 22.4 0.0633 0.0483 + 31.1
Total other direct 0.2969 0.2523 + 17.7 0.2500 0.2166 + 15.4
Indirect Operating
Insurance-fire & casualty 0.0287 0.0257 + 11.7 0.0263 0.0230 + 14.3
Taxes & licenses 0.0250 0.0237 + 5.5 0.0202 0.0161 + 25.5
Depreciation & rent 0.1335 0.1291 + 3.4 0.1012 0.1055 4.1
Total indirect operating 0.1872 0.1785 + 4.9 0.1477 0.1446 + 2.1
Total Packing Expense 2.2863 1.9987 + 14.4 2.1527 1.9371 + 11.1
Administrative 0.1283 0.1361 5.7 0.1728 0.1882 8.2
Selling 0.1823 0.1772 + 2.9 0.2583 0.1919 + 34.6
Other Items 0.3274 0.3232 + 1.3 0.3077 0.3063 + 0.5
Total Costs 2.9243 2.6352 + 11.0 2.8915 2.6235 + 10.2
aSee footnote 1, page 1.

Table 11.--Total
selling

cost per 1 3/5-bushel equivalent for packing and
g Florida citrus by type of pack, 1969-70 through

1979-80 seasons

4/5-bu. 5-1b. poly. 8-1b. poly. 5-1b. vexar 8-1b. vexar
fiber- bag in bag in bag in bag in
board master master master master
box carton carton carton carton

- - - Oranges - - -

1969-70 $1.76 2.25 2.21 2.35 2.30
1970-71 1.78 2.23 2.42 2.42 2.33
1971-72 1.81 2.27 2.21 2.41 2.30
1972-73 1.86 2.33 2.22 2.52 2.36
1973-74 2.09 2.63 2.52 2.77 2.67

1974-75b 2.18 2.79 2.73 3.01 3.00
1975-76b 2.22 2.83 2.86 3.11 2.99
1976-77b 2.60 3.20 3.15 3.51 3.30
1977-78b 2.46 3.07 2.96 3.42 3.17
1978-79 2.64 3.45 3.34 3.78 3.60

1979-80b 2.92 3.84 3.80 4.10 3.88

- -- --Grapefruit - - -

1969-70 $1.66 2.12 2.13 2.29 2.16
1970-71 1.71 2.14 2.19 2.35 2.21
1971-72 1.72 2.09 2.12 2.31 2.18
1972-73 1.77 2.16 2.01 2.37 2.10
1973-74 2.06 2.52 2.57 2.77 2.67

1974-75 2.21 2.72 2.61 3.01 3.28
1975-76 2.27 2.91 2.74 3.21 2.88
1976-77 2.55 3.20 3.08 3.59 3.25
1977-78 2.43 3.03 2.85 3.45 3.05
1978-79 2.62 3.33 3.42 3.76 3.55

1979-80 2.89 3.64 3.46 4.03 3.77

information for seasons prior to 1979-80 is from Hooks [3].

bsee footnote 1, page 1.

17

Table 12.--Value of packed 4/5-bu. cartons of Florida oranges and
grapefruit relative to packing costs, years 1967-68
through 1979-80 seasons, 1 3/5-bushel equivalent boxes

Interior East Coast

Season FOB value FOB value
of packed Packing Ratio of packed Packing Ratio
fruit cost fruit cost

Oranges
1967-68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72

1972-73
1973-74
1974-75,
1975-76d
1976-77"
d
1977-78d
1978-79d
1979-80
Grapefruit
1967-68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72

1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77

1977-78
1978-79
1979-80

$ per 1 3/5-bu.
equivalent

4.56
4.36
3.86
4.26
5.08

4.66
5.14
5.42
5.64
5.92

9.00
10.20
8.44

4.68
4.72
4.60
4.86
5.16

5.30
5.16
5.84
5.26
5.68

5.51
7.00
7.84

1.53
1.59
1.63
1.75
1.80

1.86
2.04
2.13
2.19
2.56

,2.44
2.62
2.87

1.84
1.90
2.01
1.89
2.01

2.14
1.87
1.94
2.05
2.28

2.25
2.44
2.54

Percent

32
36
42
41
35

40
40
39
39
43

27
26
34

39
40
44
39
39

40
36
33
39
40

41
35
32

$ per 1 3/5-bu.
equivalent

5.50 1.84
4.72 1.90
4.60 2.01
4.86 1.89
5.44 2.01

4.80 2.14
5.30 2.47
5.68 2.56
6.12 2.38
5.86 3.23

8.96 3.15
9.90 3.34
8.64 3.87

5.70 1.67
4.30 1.72
5.04 1.81
5.20 1.84
5.80 1.84

6.12 1.96
5.74 2.21
6.46 2.36
6.16 2.38
6.60 2.77

6.54 2.71
7.95 2.98
9.18 3.19

aFrom Florida Citrus Mutual [1].

bSeasons prior to 1975-76 are from Hooks

and Kilmer [3].

cRatio = packing cost value of packed fruit.

See footnote 1, page 1.

Percent

33
40
44
39
37

44
47
45
39
55

35
34
45

29
40
36
35
32

32
39
37
39
42

41
37
35

SELECTED REFERENCES

[1] Florida Citrus Mutual.
various issues.

Statistical Bulletin.

[2] Florida Division of Fruit and Vegetable Inspection.
Season Annual Report. Winter Haven: 1980.

1979-80

[3] Hooks, R. Clegg and Richard L. Kilmer. Estimated Costs of
Packing and Selling Florida Citrus, 1978-79 Season.
Food and Resource Economics Department Economic Information
Report 133. Gainesville: University of Florida,
April 1980.

This public document was promulgated at an annual cost of $1026.00 or
$0.86 per copy to report citrus harvesting research results to
county agricultural directors and firms and agencies in the citrus industry.

Lakeland:

	Front Cover
	Abstract
	Acknowledgements
	Table of Contents
	Main
	Reference