RETAIL PRICE OF TEA

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27674, 2 June 1955, Page 12

RETAIL PRICE OF TEA

Justification Seen For 9/- Per Lb MINISTER MEETS HOUSEWIVES (Neto Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 1. Although the controlled price of tea in New Zealand was 9s per lb, an even higher price could be justified on the costs of recent shipments, said the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr D. J. Eyre) tonight. The Minister said he had discussed tea prices this afternoon with representatives of the New Zealand Housewives’ Association, an officer of the Price Tribunal, and a member of the tea trade. At the end of the discussions, the secretary of the association (Mrs E. Taylor, Auckland) expressed her satisfaction with the information the deputation had received. No-one in the trade, the deputation had been told, was getting more than a reasonable allowance for services rendered, Mr Eyre said. The margins allowed from the time tea was imported until the time it got into the consumer’s cup was strictly checked and controlled by the Price Tribunal. “A higher price could be justified, but the price has recently dropped—an indication that fierce competition exists in the tea-packing trade,” said the Minister. “Lower-prioed teas being offered for sale are in bulk, and are not blended or packed, and the quality is not comparable with the blended qualities of proprietary brands of tea.”