Meat export ‘laissez-faire’ criticised

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 37

Meat export ‘laissez-faire’ criticised

PA Rotorua It was not in New Zealand’s best interests to have a multitude of independent meat operations, says the managing director of Waitaki New Zealand Refrigerating, Ltd, Mr A. R. Hutton. It was important to overcome the practice of comKiies which sell New Zead meat competing against one another, with a consequent fall in prices, Mr Hutton told the eighth national convention of the Exporters’ Institute. He said there were 42 export processing plants with 20 different owners and more than 100 exporters with licences to market

New Zealand meat. “This is laissez-faire at its best, but must surely be a road to disaster for New Zealand.” To successfully market its meat, the country would have to move away from bulk commodity frozen lamb and begin to push lamb as an up-market food product, he said. However, Mr Hutton said there would be too. many distributors still in the market. “Remembering there is a limit to the number of ways a lamb chop can be made to look different, I am sure that in any one market today we need only a maximum of four operators,” he said.