ABSTRACT
Warehousing and packing firms provide a service to apple producers that of transforming orchard run fruit into a market-ready product. Fresh packers add value just as surely as do processors of applesauce or apple juice, although that added value is often not recognized. Just like the fruit processor, the fresh-pack warehouse aims to cover all costs and leave a margin for return on capital invested. Since an integrated warehousing and packing facility is an amalgam of a number of different operations, it is useful to look at the economic principles influencing the individual operations before attempting to look at firm economics as a whole. Overhead costs are costs which cannot be assigned to any of the specific plant operations. They include the costs of general management, secretarial and clerical staff, property taxes, utilities and other costs related to the general management function.
