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Structure, conduct, and performance (SCP) of the fresh pineapple market in Camarines Norte, Philippines
Dissertation Abstract:
Using the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) framework, this study analyzed the fresh pineapple marketing system of Camarines Norte across four major pineapple producing municipalities: Basud, Labo, San Lorenzo, and San Vicente. Data from a single cropping season were collected using total enumeration and snowball sampling. This resulted in a sample of 179 farmers (102 small-scale, 77 large-scale), alongside assembler-wholesalers, retailers, and key informants. Primary data were gathered through personal interviews using pre-tested, translated questionnaires, while descriptive statistics and SCP metrics evaluated market dynamics.
Descriptive findings show that the primary market players are mature, married individuals with a high school education. The mean ages for farmers, assemblerwholesalers, and retailers are 52, 49, and 50 years old, respectively. While males dominate the production and wholesaling sectors, retailing presents a more balanced gender distribution at 56% male and 44% female. Furthermore, preliminary findings indicate high land vulnerability among the majority of the farms involved.
The product flow suggested that market features a short, simple, and old distribution networks where the assembler-wholesalers serve as the primary link between farmers and retailers, with no direct marketing channel exists. This structural gap fully isolates producers from retail price premiums. Market structure metrics described the fresh pineapple market as a trader-dominated system, transitioning from a competitive assembling-wholesaling tier to a highly concentrated retail market, where informal suki relationships and unilateral pricing leave producers as price-takers. Market performance analysis indicates that while all participants generate positive gross margins, substantial financial disparities exist, with intermediaries capturing disproportionately higher profits relative to producers.
To bridge these structural gaps and mitigate market inefficiencies, it is recommended to establish direct farmer-to-consumer marketing channels and strengthen collective bargaining units to counter the prevailing trader-dominated structure. Additionally, improving sector efficiency requires upgrading value-adding activities, enhancing product differentiation, and alleviating core production bottlenecks to shift dependency away from private traders.