Banana importer defends prices

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33858, 2 June 1975, Page 12

Banana importer defends prices

The managing director of Fruit Distributors. Ltd (Mr C. R. Walker), says there is little prospect of bananas becoming cheaper.

■ Mr Walker was comment-1 ing on an editorial in “The Press” of May 5 about the price and source of bananas ; in New Zealand. The price of the fruit was : the cheapest part of the im-! porting and selling of bananas, said Mr Walker. The freight to New Zealand ; accounted for about 50 per : cent of the landed price. InI ternal freight was also an. 1 important factor in the price. : ! "Indications are that inter- 1 .nal freight will show a con- 5 I tinued upward tendency, and these would completely offset; 1 any possible reduction inl banana prices.” he said. Diseases that were expensive and difficult to control; i and a shortage of labour in ‘ the Pacific Islands appeared to eliminate them as “large sources” of supply; as had 1 j been suggested. COMPARATIVE PRICES A correspondent to “The Press” of May 7. “Free World.” had said that the ; price of bananas in Fiji to I the exporter in 1969 was about 1c per lb and the New Zealand retail nrice was then ; ; about 17c per lb. “This is entirely a distortion of figures,” said Mr Walker. As a result of similar allegations the late Prime Minister, Mr Norman Kirk, set up a committee of inquiry in 1973 into the Cook IslandsNew Zealand fresh fruit trade. An exhaustive inquiry was made, and the committee had access to all Fruit Distribu-I tors books and figures. ! The committee had dis- ‘ : proved the allegation that imiporters bought bananas for; i Ic per lb, and disclosed that I if Fruit Distributors werej able to sell every case of Island bananas it imported at I the maximum wholesale price

then ruling, the company, would lose 88c a box, said 1 Mr Walker. '