|Guidelines for small-scale fruit and vegetable processors. (FAO
Agricultural Services Bulletin - 127) (1997)| |Part 2 -
Processing for sale| |2.6. Contracts with suppliers and
retailers| Many small scale processors buy fruits and vegetables
daily from their nearest public market. Although this is simple
and straightforward, it creates a number of problems for a
business: for example, the processors have little control over
the price charged by traders each day and because of the large
seasonal price fluctuations that characterise these raw
materials, this makes financial planning and control over
cashflow more difficult (Section 2.3.4). The processor is also
unable to schedule the raw materials in the quantities required
and it is common for production to fail to meet a target because
there are simply not enough fruits and vegetables for sale on a
particular day. Additionally, the processor has no control over
the way fruits and vegetables are handled during harvest and
transport to the markets and therefore