TABLE 97.-Quantity of mainland rum production, and quantity and value of mainland rum receipts from outside sources, specified years 1939-54

Puerto Rico greatly benefited by the increase in demand for rum and the tax refunds made by the Federal Government for excise tax levied on rum shipped from Puerto Rico became, as we have already seen in section I, an important factor in Puerto Rico's industrialization program.

At the end of the war production and receipts dropped below the prewar level (1947-3.3 million gallons) but the level of consumption has been fairly steady since that time, fluctuating within a 3.8 to 4.0 million gallons range.

The relative position of Puerto Rico has been summarized as follows: The quantity of beverage rum produced in the continental United States has dropped to only one quarter of the 1939 level, while the quantity imported from foreign countries has fallen to less than half its 1939 level. In sharp contrast, amounts shipped from Puerto Rico are more than double the prewar level, those shipped from the Virgin Islands nearly double the prewar level. Puerto Rico, which in 1939 shipped less beverage rum than the mainland produced, now supplies about seven times as much.33

The success of Puerto Rico to regain some lost ground and to strengthen its position in the mainland market is largely due to a systematic advertising and marketing campaign carried through by the Economic Development Administration.

Shipments of cordials from Puerto Rico were significant during the war but are quite unimportant since then.

The market for beer in Puerto Rico has increased substantially during the past 15 years. Between fiscal years 1951 and 1954 beer production in Puerto Rico increased fourfold from about 3.5 to about 14.5 million gallons.

Shipments from Puerto Rico to the mainland are insignificant. But the insular industry has to compete with mainland imports. It has been successful in reducing the relative share of mainland imports to the Puerto Rican market.

6. THE FOOD AND RELATED PRODUCTS INDUSTRIES IN PUERTO RICO

A. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDUSTRY

This industry group comprises-with two exceptions-the following three groups: (1) Foods, beverages, related products, (2) vegetable, fruit, and nut packing and processing, and (3) bakery products. The two exceptions are: (1) The manufacture or processing of snuff, chewing tobacco, and smoking tobacco and (2) the manufacture of "malta," a nonalcoholic beverage.34

In 1952 the number of establishments in the industry amounted to 195. About 4.5 thousand employees found their livelihood in the food industry. About $4.4 million were paid out in wages and salaries, almost $10 million were added by manufacture and the value of the product sold was a little over $38 million. About 12 percent of the total value was sold on the mainland, less than 2 percent were exported to other market and the balance-about 86 percent-was consumed in Puerto Rico. (See table 98.)

33 Ibid. p. 19.

This section of the report is largely based on a recent publication by the U. 8. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour and Public Contract Divisions, The Food and Related Products Industries in Puerto Rico, Division of Wage Determination, June 1955. WH 55-1018.

TABLE 98.- Food and kindred products industries in Puerto Rico: Establishments, employment, payrolls, value added, and sales by market, 1952 [Dollar figures in thousands)

All employees

The comparable industry on the mainland had over 35,000 establishments, employed over 1.4 million people and had a total annual payroll of $4.5 billion dollars (1952).

The 1952 Census of Manufactures of Puerto Rico shows that the food industry had 17 percent of the number of manufacturing establishments, 11 percent of value of sales in manufacturing, but only 9 percent of manufacturing employment and 8 percent of manufacturing payrolls.

The number of establishments declined by 18 between 1949 and 1952 (9 percent), employment fell by 565 (-12 percent) while comparable figures for the value of products sold are not obtainable. (See table 99.) However, it is known that sales advanced in certain lines (ice, pickles and sauces) and declined in others (natural cheese). TABLE 99.-Food and kindred products industries in Puerto Rico: Establishments. employment, and sales, 1952 and 1949

1 Excludes establishments engaged in producing sugar and alcoholic beverages. Also excludes bakeries with fewer than 10 employees.

2 Includes wine sales, which were not individually disclosed and could not be separated out.

3 Data withheld to avoid disclosing figures for individual firms.

Excludes bakeries with fewer than 10 employees. See footnote 4, table 98.

For some of the food preparations included in this group, see footnote 5, table 98.

Source: Puerto Rico Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Census of Manufactures Puerto Rico, 1952. except for 1949 data on value of products sold, which are from U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Census of Manufactures Puerto Rico, 1949.

As table 100 and table 101 show, value of farm products increased substantially between 1950 ($72.5 million) and 1954 ($100.9 million). Almost 60 percent of the value of farm products is accounted for by livestock products, about 16 percent by coffee and about 13 percent by starchy vegetables and almost 5 percent by fruits.

TABLE 100.-Estimated farm value of agricultural commodities produced in Puerto Rico, fiscal years 1949-50 to 1953-54

Source: Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Bureau of Agricultural Economics.