BOOK REVIEW Story Of A Canterbury Freezing Enterprise

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28559, 12 April 1958, Page 9

BOOK REVIEW Story Of A Canterbury Freezing Enterprise

There is some tendency these days for farmers to be critical of freezing companies because they are big and powerful organisations, but there is no doubt that farmers throughout the country, and everyone else as well, owe a great debt of gratitude to those who pioneered the freezing industry in New Zealand and paved the way for a meat export trade which in 1957 was worth £7om. The need to dispose of surplus meat and dairy produce was the issue which brought into being the freezing industry, and one of those who gave much thought to this problem was John Grigg, of Longbeach, who, it is said, was wont on’ a Sunday afternoon to lie on his back on the beach and dream and plan. John Grigg holds a central place in “A History of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, Limited,’’ which has been written by a director of the company, Mr G. R. Macdonald, with the aid of researches and iriaterial collected by. Mr D. W. and which is published by Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd., Christchurch. In an era when the momentum of life wis so much slower, it is remarkable commentary on the vigour and energy of a man like Grigg that in addition to making out of Longbeach a farm of worldwide renown he should have been able to play a leading part in the launching of an enterprise like this. ,

In fact, the whole of the early development of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company is’remarkable for the ability of these pioneeri to get things done in a minimum of time, when transport and mechanical aids were still relatively primitive. Quick Work John Grigg was chairman at a meeting of graziers and farmers in November, 1881 to consider the floating of a freezing company and he was elected the new company’s first chairman of directors at a meeting in March, 1882, when an order was placed for a refrigerating machine and it was decided to advertise for a sjte for the works. In less than a year—on February 12, 1883—killing began at Belfast, and on the morning of March 30 that year the first train of insulated trucks rolled down to Lyttelton to unload carcases of mutton into the steamer, British King, which sailed on April 8 with 6198 carcases aboard. Though some mildew gathered during the voyage, the sale of the consignment in London at a little less than 7d a lb justified the faith of the founders of the company. In the first year, 72.907 sheep were killed and frozen at the works and 4400 more sheep were killed at the works and sent to be frozen on board ship, and what is most important, the operations showed a modest net profit of £3448, permitting a dividend of 8 per cent, to be paid. The story of the company is, one of constant expansion in output and in facilities. It had hardly started killing before plans were in train for an expansion of capacity; but the company did not have a path of roses. In the third year, due to difficulties with refrigeration in sailing vessels and having to buy stock when prices were at a peak to keep shipping commitments and then having to sell overseas when the market was glutted a loss of £12,623 was recorded. In the early hours of December 1, 1888, a disastrous fire partly destroyed the works at Belfast, causing damage estimated at £14,500. There was the odd episode of the superintendent of the Christchurch Fire Brigade chasing round the city in the early morning, while the works were being consumed,, seeking the authority of the city fathers to take an engine beyond the town belts.

But here again the infant company demonstrated its capacity to surmount and in spite of the fire, killings that year reached a record with 244,352 lambs and sheep slaughtered and frozen and 18,707 carcases frozen

on boatd ship and there Was a credit in the profit and loss account of £lB3B. The attention the company paid to grading had not a little to do with the pre-eminent name Canterbury -has earned in the meat world, but in those far-off days Canterbury and New Zealand meat had a rough passage on the British market At the docks it was often roughly handled, find there were stories about where it was of good quality it was passed off as homegrown by British butchers, and of poorer quality meats from other parts of the world being sold as from New Zealand. For many years the returns from Canterbury meat were low, even in comparison with the first shipment, and, though the company successfully worked.to reduce costs of handling, the return left to the farmer was not high and it was sometimes difficult to fill shipments.

The men who have controlled the destiny of the company over the years have all had their roots firmly set in New Zealand’s soil. Mr John Deans, of the pioneer Riccarton family, succeeded Mr Grigg as chairman when he retired in 1900, but Mr Deans died during his first year in office. Sir George Clifford held the post until 1930, and for a similar period the chairmanship has been in the hands of the present chairman, another Mr John Deans, the son of the earlier chairman.

In writing the story of the Canterbury Meat Company, Mr Macdonald is to be commended for compiling most ably a historical record, which is an integral part of the history of Canterbury, and for telling a story of striking achievement. Many photographs, both old and new, add to the interest of the book.