THE MARKETING OF HONEY.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20334, 5 September 1931, Page 11

THE MARKETING OF HONEY.

TO IHB *t>tTOß Or TUB KtBSS. Sir,—With reference to the statemenfunder the above heading appearing in your issue of the 31st ult., the chairman of 'the' Honey Export Control Board, in response to a resolution passed by Canterbury Beekeepers calling for restriction of below standard honeys and reduction in overhead expense in London, states a case for the continued export of honeys below a standard suitable for sale as table, honeys. He also makes it appear that export regulations already prevent the export. of honeys below standard. Beekeepers who consistently produce high, grade, mild-flavoured honeys, are concerned with the returns»which are available to them for export, and feel that a great proportion of the losses which have been made on the export market are due to the high proportion of lower grade honeys sent overseas, advances paid to producers of 'these honeys being much above theif market values. Upon his return from England the chairman of the Board reported that lie had seen high-grade table honeys unsaleable at auction at 2d per lb.; We have been paying on exports! an initial advance higher than that figure' itt New Zealand for below-stan- ' dard honeya> and as these represent over I 26 per cent, of our exports it will be [seen that heavy expense and loss in London are inevitable. We understand theW is an accumulation of several hundred ions of honey in the London warehouse unsuitable for blending or for use as table honeys, and apparently unsaleable at present. This does not indicate that tho regulations are effective i in preventing the export of low-grade stocks. Under these circumstances any satisfactory features of our export trade musi.come from the producers of nighgrade honeys, who are, in effect, subsidising the growers of the. unwanted stronger honeys. / This Association of kcal growers expressed the opinion that tho export of below-standard honeys should be restricted, and while this may be unfortunate for the exporters of the less saleable article, it is desirable in the interests of high-grade honey production and of economy in marketing. , In his statementVthe chairman of the Board also refers )to the necessity of blending honey to one uniform quality. Unfortunately, unlike for instance butter, wbich under proper conditions can be brought to a high average standard, honey cannot be treated to eliminate flavour, odour, etc., and standardisation involves a reduction in quality which would immediately affect sales. The experiment has already been tried in New Zealand and failed, ]the public preferring to purchase honeys of; higher , grading .than the standardised article, Although the English committee referred to recommends staadardisation as a marketing necessity, it should be remembered that there is an extremely limited sale for honey at Home, and we believe that relatively few buyers regularly secure honey of the quality usually demanded by the New Zealand public. We have examined sample packs of

honeys sold at Home and can say that if these were representative, etandardisation would be possible in England, the grade to which buyers are chiefly accustoined apparently not being unduly high. In New Zealand, however, we consume the largest amount of honey per head of any country, and we have been educated to expect & relatively high-grad.e article. We do not wish to jeopardise our most valuable market by standardisation, which would react seriously on sales here as experience has already proved.—Yours, etc., E. G. WOODS, Secretary, South Island Honey Marketing Association, September 4th, 1931.