PRICE OF LEMONS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31587, 26 January 1968, Page 26

PRICE OF LEMONS

Seasonal Shortage Lemons were In short supply at present, as they nearly always were from January to at least early April, Mr B. C. Clark, the general manager of the New Zealand Citrus Marketing Authority, said yesterday. Mr Clark was commenting on recent letters to “The Press” complaining about lemon prices. The authority had the duty of administering regulations providing for the sale and purchase of all New Zealandgrown lemons, Mr Clark said. It did this through packing houses in Kerikeri, Auckland. Tauranga and Gisborne, the districts which grew 99 per cent of the New Zealand production. Agents had been appointed in Hastings and Nelson to receive any marketable fruit in those areas. “It is unfortunate that the main crop is harvested when market demand is poorest (July to November) and the lighter summer harvest cannot cope with the demand,” Mr Clark said. All lemon sales had been by auction in the last 12 months and the present high prices on a very small proportion of the total crop eventually found their way back to the producer. There was no restriction on a grower selling his fruit privately in not more than two-case lots for private consumption, but no grower was permitted to sell to a retailer. Any surplus marketable fruit submitted by Nelson growers not required locally was sent to Christchurch for sale, Mr Clark said. It was usual for imports to be made from Cyprus or California to alleviate a shortage, but apparently no great quantity could be expected from current available licences. “No producer is making a fortune out of growing lemons, nor is any attempt being made to exploit the South Island market, but it is inevitable that prices will be high for a short period when the fruit is in such short supply,” Mr Clark added.