Total shipments of California fresh grapes for table use have averaged – over the past five years – more than 27,500 carlots; equivalent to an annual average of more than 30 million standard display lugs. On this volume, the local marketing cost-the costs of picking and hauling, packing, precooling, and loading were roughly 31 million dollars annually.

Improvements in fruit packing house operations will be reported in an article to be published in a future issue of California Agriculture.