Analysis of marketing system of freshwater fish in Changwat Nakhon Ratchasima,1988 [Thailand]

Iced and lived fish traders consist of first wholesalers, second wholesalers and retailers. Cultured fish traders are only retailers, and the captured fish traders consist of collectors and retailers. The important marketing channels of freshwater fish are as followed. For iced fish most of them are distributed to the other changwats in the Northeast region (80.90 %). The rest 17.96 % are for domestic consumption and 1.14 % are weight loss. For lived fish 47.22 % are sold in the other changwats and 50.03 % are domestically consumed. Captured fish and cultured fish are consumed with in Nakhon Ratchasima. Domestically consumed iced fish and lived fish have two important marketing channels; the first one from first wholesalers selling to retailers and the second one from first wholesalers selling to second wholesalers and retailers finally. The freshwater fish market structure is oligopoly. Traders differentiate their products selling on credit at wholesaling level and providing services on processing as required by the buyers at retailing level. Barries to entry for new traders are the disadvantages in location, business know-how, and credit-tie system among traders. Marketing margin of the iced fish in the first channel is 28.60 % of retailed price of which 15.18 % are marketing costs and 13.42 % are trader's profits. For the second channel, the marketing margin is 27.21 %, 12.70 for marketing costs and 14.51 for traders'profits. The marketing margin of lived fish is 20.07 % of retailed price and consists of 9.43 % marketing costs and 10.64 % traders' profits in the first channel. For the second channel, marketing margin is 23.81 % of retailed price of which 10.96 % are marketing costs of 12.85 % are traders'profits. The marketing margin of the cultured and captured fish are not much different being 22.36 and 21.04 % of retailed price, of which 18.59 and 17.07 % are traders' profits respectively