Frozen Food Locker Plants

Excerpts from the report: Growth of the frozen food locker industry in the past 2 decades is one of the more significant developments in the improvement of perishable food preservation in rural areas and better eating for rural people. Also, locker plants are valuable in processing, storing and merchandising local food. An estimated one out of every eight families in the United States gets part of its basic food needs through frozen food locker plants. The 10,553 frozen food locker plants operating in early 1955 were serving an estimated 5 million families and processed, in 1954, about 1.6 billion pounds of food. The information on which this report is based was assembled from locker operators in January 1955. The report shows the number and types of plants and patrons, number of lockers, and rates charged on January 1, 1955, while business volume figures for the plants cover the year 1954. The survey was the eighth in a series of surveys of this industry made by the United States Department of Agriculture since 1940. Mail questionnaires were sent to all frozen food locker plants and usable replies received from 6,390 or 61 percent of the operators of these locker plants.