BUTTER BRANDS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 118, 21 May 1930, Page 11

BUTTER BRANDS

THE BLENDING WOEKS

REPLY TO AGITATION

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 4th April.

The campaign against the use of wrappers that convey the impression that blended butter is English butter has developed in force. ' The matter is evidently not to be allowed to drop.

■Mr. Maurice F. Smith (director of Messrs. John Buckle (London), Ltd.), writing to "Tho Times" as a prominent retailer, says that the prominence given to tho, subject in the Press and in Parliament has shown that the question stands on a different plane from that of the majority of marking orders. The Empire producers are backed by English agricultural interests, by members of Parliament of all parties, and by influential organisations of consumers and others. And the public 'now understands that it has boon misled in the past and will want guarantees for the future.

"An Order-in-Couneil cannot, of course, apply to blended butter alone," continues Mr. Smith, "but must also include 'straight' butter. Nevertheless, I believe that the hardship of having to label the latter product is 1 more apparent than real, because many grocers have discovered that the voluntary labelling of Danish and New Zealand butter is .quite a good selling factor., / "As the alternative, to an Order-in-"Council under the Merchandise Marks Act will probably be a new Act of Parliament (with possibly new obligations upon retailers), I suggest that in their own interests local grocers' associations should definitely range themselves on the side of the public. There is sound sense in the plea of Mr. Salmon, of the Distributive and Allied Trades Union, that tho grocer and his assistant should be relieved of the responsibility of oral guarantees in respect of .butter. BLENDERS' REPLY. The blenders' reply to tho charges made against them are as follow: —

"The proportion of blendid butter sold in packet form is not so high, as is stated. A very large proportion is sold in bulk, admittedly without a name, but at prices ruling considerably below those of good-class English or Empire butters, but it is essentially a secondary and non-competitive product.

"Practically all the existing blending factories were established many years ago, when English butter ] was available in the districts where; they were erected, and had not been built there in" order to deceive. Supplies of English butter now being insufficient for their requirements, butter blenders now bought the very best makes of Continental butters, which arrived here within a few days of being churned. Instead of cheapening the blends, blenders had to pay considerably over the piiee of colonial butters for these.

"With regard to prices, blenders had to meet substantial expenses, and freight charges alone averaged between id. and Id per lb. The profits made by the most successful blending factories did not amount to 4 percent, on their turnover. As for the charge that they used Siberian butter, most of this was sold to biscuit and cake manufacturers, as its texturo suited them better than any other.

"With, reference to tho suggestion that blending factories were harmful to British agriculture, the reply was that, the factories had been a great boon to it; Before these factories wore established tho farmers .had either to sell their butter as it was made or heavily salt it for winter supplies. The blending factories, by taking the butter fresh from tho churn in its unworked state, woro able. to pay, and did pay, higher prices to tho farmers for their butter than they were able to obtain from any other source.

"Whatever steps might be taken to legislate in respect of the marking' of blended butter, these could not do any good whatever to the English farmers. The compulsory branding of Continental - butters would, in their opinion, make known to consumers the fact that their quality was of tho highest order, and would eventually popularise them."