Positive Studies on Competition and Complement Relations between Agricultueral Cooperatives and Collecting-forwarding Shippers under the Current Restructuring of Destribution

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1. In Higashi-Mikawa district, Aichi prefecture, which we have chosen as the object of our studies, an agricultural cooperative marketing organization (ACMO) has been set up ; almost all of the agricultural cooperators are members of it. By selecting registrants, this organization is trying to fortify its functionality as a sales entity. That is to say, it is making every effort to step up its controlling power by implementing a planified or adjusted shipment, rigorous testing methods, marketing for all products to be sold, pool accounting, expulsion of offenders against its rules, etc.2. The shippers in this district function as collectors of products and as agents forwarding them outside as well as inside the local area. Their principal roles are to swiftly provide for the wholesale markets in consumer areas which have seen their supply reduced or cut off by ACMOs, and to answer supermarkets' special needs such as weekend supply or massive supply of standardized products for bargain sales days. On these points, the shippers hold superiority over the ACMO itself.3. We carried out a field survey with cabbage and Chinese cabbage farmers in Higashi-Mikawa. Among the cabbage farmers in Toyohashi, many send their products both to the agricultural cooperative and other distributors such as shippers or the local market. In Atsumi-cho, each of the cabbage farmers sends all his products either to the agricultural cooperative or to one of the other distributors. In addition, the latter farmers make use of not only the local market but also other various destinations such as supermarkets and consumer area markets. Finally, more than half of the Chinese cabbage farmers inside Toyohashi send all their products to the agricultural cooperative, while the rest do so either to the local market or to collecting-forwarding shipper.