PRICE OF MILK

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21727, 9 March 1936, Page 8

PRICE OF MILK

10 THE EDITOR 0E THE PRESS. sir,—The letter printed in your columns this morning draws attention to 0116 point only in. connexion witxi the milk business, and that is. the position of the .producer. His remedy is for the Government to fix- the price to the farmer, but a moment’s serious consideration of this shows that it is not sufficient. The whole business is in a chaotic condition at the present time, with competition among the farmers to dispose of their supply and competition among the vendors to get trade, with the result that neither are getting anything approaching a reasonable return for their labpur. In fact, the.only section of -the community benefiting from the production and distribution of milk in the city, are the petrol, oil. and tyre merchants, who are reaping the benefit of the, stupid system under which the milk business is conducted, I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that the average distance travelled to deliver the city’s daily supply is about one mile to each gallon of milk delivered, and as the daily consumption is approximately 6000 gallons, this means 5000 miles in delivery, which, at 4d a mile comes to £B3 6s 8d a day, £583 6s 8d a week, or more than £30,000 per annum, plus the cost of bringing the supply in from the country, truly a nice little rake off for those engaged in the petrol, oil, and tyre business. Having given this matter a considerable amount of thought, I would suggest mat what is required is a mfik control ♦council, with the power to control conditions in the industry, and. if you will permit me the space I will deal under three headings, with the steps that should be taken to put the milk business on a satisfactory footing. ' . Producers —At present all milk for town’supply comes from registered dairies, but there are a great many more registered dairies than are needed to supply the city’s requirements. These should be licensed, and the number limited so that the man who has been producing during the period of low prices will have preference when prices are fixed and, on a payable basis. Quotas could easily be worked , out, and each man allotted his quota according to his last three years'. winter supply, surplus milk hot required for town supply to be separated and go .to the butter factory. There would then be an inducement for the producer to improve his herd and dairy with a consequent improvement in quality., Vendors—l do not kpow how many vendors there are licensed to sell milk, but there fire so many and there is so much overlapping that none of them is making more than a mere pittance, and working exceptionally long hours seven days a week to do it. Boys on bicycles with a couple of ’ cans and a dipper are a common sight in the early hours of the morning.' When you realise that 51, roundsmen deliver the Wellington municipal retail milk, each man averaging 84 gallons daily, receiving a Recent wage and one day a week off, we (pan see what could be done with proper,organisation. If the number of vendors were limited, and a vendor to have, say 25 gallons of retail trade before obtaining a license,, wc would then have men in the trade with a stake in the business, and the’ question of up-to-date plant, etc., would receive proper attention, again with a resultant improvement in quality, Then gradually rounds could be consolidated and the high overhead of delivery expenses reduced and better wages paid. The Public—A fixed retail price would eliminate the present cut-throat competition which is largely a result, of producers wishing to start a round of their own. I know personally a great many people who would be prepared to pay 5d a quart in_ the summer and 6d a quart in the winter, provided everyone else paid the same, and this Js not an unreasonable price. The question of bottle losses and bad debts could also receive consideration, as there should' be no difficulty in arranging a coupon or token system. Also the question of shop trade could be attended to. Shops use milk as a draw line to attract people in the hone of, making other sales. It is a wellknown fact that if people have a regular quantity of milk delivered each day to their homes, more is consumed than if . they can just go down to the corner and get a small quantity. There is not the slightest doubt that milk is one of the most valuable commodities in the home, and the above improvements in the production and distribution would result in much better quality milk, and be to the benefit of all concerned!— Yours, etc., ' QUALITY. March 7, 1936..