Island bananas ‘unreliable’

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33058, 27 October 1972, Page 3

Island bananas ‘unreliable’

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, October 26. The Pacific Islands are unreliable in meeting New Zealand requirements for bananas, according to the general manager of Fruit Distributors (Mr C. R. Walker).

He told the Committee of Inquiry into the distribution of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables that there was little responsibility in the islands in ensuring that estimates for various shipments were met. An example of this was a recent shipment in the Tofua which supplied only 6606 of the estimated 13,000 cases of bananas.

The company had arranged alternative trade with Ecua-' dor and Costa Rica, but the

Government had instructed it to buy bananas from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji, and Tonga first. The main problem with the island trade, Mr Walker said, was that while the suppliers waited to see if shipments were met, it became too late for them to order more supplies elsewhere, shipments from Ecuador had to be booked ahead, and the voyage to New Zealand took 16 days. Fruit Distributors, Ltd, accepted estimates for fruit supplies from the departments of agriculture in the Islands, and arranged its additional quantities from other markets. “It must be realised that in the world fruit supply, New Zealand is a small buyer and a small factor,” Mr Walker said.