THE PRICE OF MEAT.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13375, 17 March 1909, Page 2

THE PRICE OF MEAT.

WHY MUTTON AND BEEF ARE DEAR. Many householders aro up in arms regarding the way in which the butchers are keeping up the retail price of meat, despite the fact that tho prices realised at the Addington sales for sheep and cattle have of late fallen most materially.

From enquiries mado by a "Press" reporter it would appear that the state of the meat market at the present time is such that the local butchers have, to a certain extent, their own way as regards prices. Buying for freezing and export is, for the moment, slack, and with the partial elimination of that competition, tho butchers entered into a sort of unders-tanding not to bid against each other at the sales, but to buy what they required up to a maximum price previously agreed upon, and then to distribute among themselves what was purchased according to requirements. Tho farmer and grazier sulfer the decrease in sale rVrices, and the householder pays tho same for his meat; the fortunate* man is the retail butcher.

The average price during thoi past few weeks for ewe mutton, purchased principally by butchers, is lis 6d for a 601b carcase. The skin would realise 3s Gd, which would leave a balance of Ss for tho meat, riracticalb' ljd per pound. Yet the prices for mutton aro as follow :— Chops 6d, forequarter 3d, leg od, shoulder 4d, loin od. This leaves not only a handsome proiit, but what is considered in many quarters to be an unreasonable proiit. Beef, again, is being bought at an average of 21s per l(K)lb, or about 2J<l por lb; but the retail selling prices aro:—Rump steak Bd, beefsteak 6d, sirloin 7d, ribs 6*d, gravy beef -Id, another bi_ difference.

On behalf of tho retailer it is claimed that, under the circumstances, tho prices are not unreasonable. It is said, for instance, that tho butcher cannot soil ail he buys, and that during tho present hot season a great deal of wasto occurs. One* butcher, in fact, said that about 20 per cent, would be a fair thing to allow off the .veight of a carc;ise* for this waste. That, hoivover, on a 601b carcase, which now costs tho butcher an average of 8s after allowing for tho skin, would amount to Is 7d, or less than id per pound, and would not appear to account for tho very largrr difference between the ljd to 2d per lb buying price and the selling prices as given above. Further, it is well known that in any carcase very little, if anything, is wasted, everything turned to account in some way or another, and with the cool storage facilities which all up-to-dato shops now possess, there should be no waste at all due to hot weather taint. Due allowance should, of course, bo mado for abattoir charges and carting, rerf- of premises, and payment of assistants, but oven takin_ into consideration all these items of legitimate business ex-petu-litiire it is claimed that the difference between buying and selling prices is too much in favour of the butcher. One significant fact, is pointed out. During some years past very few butchers have come to grief on account of financial difficulties due to slackness of trade, and the trade has been enjcying a very fair measure of prosperity, and that at a time when the retailers had to pay very much more for their meat than what they pay now. If, then, it is argued, the butchers ould carry en profitably at a time ivheii n*eat was .dear to them, they must bo now reaping more than a rea>:onar>le piont at, a time when meat is cheap, tluir prices to the consumer remaining constant. "°