TOO MANY MIDDLEMEN

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 148, 23 June 1923, Page 7

TOO MANY MIDDLEMEN

EFFECT ON FRUIT PRICES. HANDLED TWENTY TIMES. MARKET CHARGES TOO HIGH. (By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.) (Received 9 a.m.) LONDON, June 22. Striking evidence of the influence of middlemen upon the retail price of British fruit was disclosed in a report by a departmental committee upon fruit and vegetables. It stated that there are.often six intermediaries between the grower and consumer. First, | there is the London commission sales- I man, then the London wholesale dealer,' the London commission buyer, the provincial wholesaler, a second provincial wholesaler, and the provincial retailer. This, says the report, may involve 10 to 20 different handlings of produce. Much ; of the fruit and vegetables now sent to Covent Garden would be better consigned to provincial markets direct. It is essential that railway rates should \ be greatly decreased. | Other recommendations are quicker handling of soft fruits on the railways, the use of the cash on delivery system, and the licensing of commissoin salesmen. The report adds that Covent Oarden is wholly inadequate to deal efficiently with the volume of produce handled. Searching investigation is necessary into the magnitude and incidence of the existing market charges, which are the subject of general complaint. Their legality is questioned. On the whole the retailers do not appear to make excessive profits. The problem of disposing of surplus fruit is largely dedendent on the prosperity of the jam industry. The canning of fruit provides another outlet, but more progressive ! methods are required in this direction by British manufacturers. — (A. and N.Z.)