Marketing Portfolio Choices by Independent Peach Growers: An Application of the Polychotomous Selection Model

In selecting a marketing channel for fresh peach sales, Georgia commercial peach growers choose the channel after accounting for buyers' preferences for quality attributes. Using the polychotomous selection model and survey data we identified external and internal quality attributes as essential factors influencing the choice of a marketing channel and the share of the crop marketed. Other factors influencing the choice and the volume sold through each marketing channel included orchard characteristics and the variety-determined fruit maturity.