N.Z. Lacks Salesmen

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31754, 10 August 1968, Page 8

N.Z. Lacks Salesmen

Few New Zealanders are salesmen for their country’s primary products overseas, according to Mr C. Hilgendorf, deputy chairman of the Meat Board.

One of New Zealand's first two Nuffield farming scholars, Mr Hilgendorf told a conference of former Nuffield farming scholars at Palmerston North this week that in the wool, dairying and meat industries there were very few New Zealanders who did any marketing overseas. The Dairy Board had agents in various countries to handle its products. The Wool Board had taken a great interest in marketing but did not sell. Similarly the New Zealand meat companies mainly sent their products overseas to people who marketed it for them. Recently, however, three New Zealand companies had got together to do their own marketing in a more sophisticated way. The overseas meat companies were in a different position and organisations like Vesteys marketed quite a lot of meat through their own but chers’ shops. The timber industry had perhaps done the most marketing of its products of anyone, but in general New Zea-

land did not have much experience of this. If New Zealand produced more meat it would be possible to sell it but to sell it at a reasonable price more had to be done and it was here that the salesman come in. In the past it seemed that New Zealand had not had to have salesmen, but it was pretty obvious that this country would need well trained salesmen in the future. He said the real interest of New Zealand freezing companies had been very largely in processing and then getting the meat on the ship, but at least part of their objective should also be to sell the product well.

There were few people who were selling New Zealand lamb in the United Kingdom. Really there were only the board and its area officers who were encouraging the British butcher to buy New Zealand lamb. It would not be possible to find many salesmen who were not also selling home-killed or Argentine beef, etc. Mr Hilgendorf said he thought that New Zealand had to think more about selling lamb in that market. It was his opinion that the United Kingdom was a potential market for increased quantities of lamb —by perhaps 100,000 carcases a year—and it might be possible to win back some of the market that had slipped into the hands of poultry and pig meats.

In noting that there were also prospects for the sale of lamb in at least a limited way in Canada, the United States, Japan, and the Continent, Mr Hilgendorf said that if New Zealand , was going to sell lamb in Japan then It would be necessary to liave people there who would sell it. The board was, of course, going to spend a lot of money there to promote the sale of lamb. In Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Greece there were possibilities for sale of lamb but it would require a certain amount of positive and aggressive salesmanship. On the Continent firms like Borthwicks, Vesteys and Towers were all doing some selling and outside the United Kingdom the English companies were most helpful to the board.

In the North American market; Mr Hilgendorf said, he believed that it was possible to sell lamb and a great deal more than had been done and he thought that the reason why they had not sold so much was that they did not have people selling it there. There were Li) or 12 consignees for New Zealand lamb. These were the wholesalers and meat packers. But of all these people in America there was only one lamb salesman.

“This year we are going to sell far more lamb there than in previous seasons and at a better price. It Is the board people who are selling it and the consignees are getting the commissions.

It looks as though we have got a breakthrough in any case, but we really have got to have people selling it.

“If we are to sell meat round the world at a profitable price we have got to have people to sell pretty hard.” In reply to a question, Mr Hilgendorf said it was not quite true that nothing had been done by the companies. Over the last ten years they had become more conscious of the need and there had been a great improvement among the New Zealand companies which had not been previously market-orientated. To Mr J. L. Daniell (Masterton), who asked whether It would be an advantage for the board to market a proportion of the country’s meat and for it to become a leader in progressive market development, Mr Hilgendorf said there could be considerable disadvantages in the board trading in meat in that a large part of its function was as an umpire or referee. Mr P. G. Morrison (Darfield) asked whether Mr Hilgendorf would agree that there should be degrees specialising in marketing at the two agricultural colleges. Mr Hilgendorf said he thought so. He believed that there was a good case for more academic marketers. They would not, however, be the be-all and end-all, but they would be an additional source of information.