SALE OF FRUIT

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 53, 26 November 1930, Page 13

SALE OF FRUIT

Export Board’s Scheme EUROPEAN MARKET Direct Shipments A scheme it is proposed to adoi>t for the Contineutal marketing of New Zealand fruit was explained by the chairman of the Fruit Export Control Board, Mr, J. L. Brown, when addressing a Dominion conference of fruit exporters in Wellington yesterday morning. Briefly, it provides for the direct shipment of fruit to the Hook of Holland, from where distribution throughout the Continent will be handled by au English firm with branches or representatives in all the leading Continental cities and centres of population. Mr. Brown, who returned from abroad a few weeks ago, spent some time in Europe, where he had an opportunity of gaining' first-hand information as to the potentialities of the market there and the requirements of the Continental .consumer. “On the Continent our fruit has been exceptionally well received because of its quality and grading,” said Mr. Brown, after he had referred to the increasing production of fruit, not only in New Zealand, but also in the other fruitgrowing countries of the world, and the paramount need for paying more and more attention to marketing and distribution. It was, he said, quite apparent that something would have to be attempted in the way of stabilising markets more than ever before. What was wanted besides distribution was control of distribution. * Cost of Redistribution. While at Home he was astounded to see the large number of over-size apples which piled up on the market floor and bore down the prices of the preferred apples, the smaller sizes. England did not ,want the larger sizes, and the time had now arrived when they should take the opportunity of testing out the Continental market with those sizes on a larger scale. To land fruit in London and have it redistributed to the Continent from there was an expensive matter—it had cost as much as five shillings a case to send apples from London to Cologne-r-while it did not give the fruit a chance to secure that good name the Dominion hoped for. Mr. Brown said the difficulty was to get a connection with a firm that would take the responsibility of distribution, but satisfactory arrangements had now been made with an English firm with branches or representatives in. all the leading Continental cities and centres of population. “The whole idea behind the scheme.” said Mr. Browji. "is that all the large sizes will be actually taken control of and sent to suitable Continental markets under the close supervision of the board’s representative. Fruit will be shipped to the Hook of Holland, from where it will be distributed. It is only by fruit being handled in such a way that distribution can be conducted on a satisfactory basis.” Great Potentialities. “The market has great potentialities,” added Mr. Brown, whp then read a list of Central European cities to which a surplus of New Zealand fruit landed in England recently had been redistributed. This, he said, snowed the wide range of markets offered by the Continent. The cities were: Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Weida ip Thuringen, Zurich, Dresden, Leipzig, Planen, Prague, Cologne, Erfurt, Breslau, Madgeburg, Hurnberg, Hamburg, ■ Brate Slava, Bodenback, Brunn, Orderberg, Zagreb, Brod. Dantzig, Warsaw, Lemberg, Vienna, Budapest, Cracow, Algiers, Barcelona, and Khartoum. • That, he said, gave some idea' of where New. Zealand apples went to. Mv« ; Brown said that under the scheme he had outlined there was no reason why forward selling should not be done on a large scale. The Continental season for marketing fruit was a short one. Fruit would have to be landed about the middle of June, not later than the end of June, and. dispatched not later than May 16. At the conclusion of the conference, which was convened by the New Zealand Fruit Export Control Board, the delegates passed a resolution expressing confidence in the scheme outlined by Mr. Brown.