ศูนย์นวัตกรรมเทคโนโลยีหลังการเก็บเกี่ยว

Economic aspects of developing a high quality sweet cherry product in Norway.

Lyngstad, L.; Sekse, L.;

Acta Horticulturae Year: 1995 Issue: No. 379 Pages: 313-320 Ref: 7 ref.

1995

บทคัดย่อ

The results of (1) economic analysis of improved harvest and postharvest systems and (2) market analysis to determine consumer preferences and investigate the potential of high quality sweet cherry fruits packaged in 0.5-kg boxes are presented. Fruits were sorted immediately before distribution to the wholesalers (after undergoing a new cooling system to lower the temperature to 2 deg C within 2 h, followed by cold storage) then packed into 0.5-kg cardboard boxes covered with transparent plastic to be sold as a unit. Compared with traditional harvesting with simultaneous sorting and packing into 5-kg boxes (for selling the fruit loose by weight) at the farm, the new methods raised capacity by approx equal to 48%. The new cooling, sorting and packing system gave higher production costs, but savings in sorting costs at harvest compensated for this. Preliminary market investigations in the 1992 season indicated that the new 0.5-kg packages (sold alongside loose fruits) made it difficult for consume

rs to evaluate the cherries before buying. An improved, more open package was subsequently tested. Sales registrations and customer interviews indicated that cherries sold by weight were preferred to the 0.5-kg packs, even though the latter were lower-priced. However, it was concluded that there was a market, albeit smaller than that of loose fruits, for the new packs.