DEARER ORANGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 106, 1 November 1939, Page 13

DEARER ORANGES

RETAILERS PROTEST

GOVERNMENT ACTION CONDEMNED

A unanimous decision not to ad- , here to the prices for oranges fixed by the Government until representations had been made to the Minister of Marketing (the Hon. W. Nash) was reached at a combined meeting of retail fruiterers in Wellington today. Mr. . A. M. Holland presided. "The ground for our action is that the sale of oranges will definitely be curtailed," said a statement issued after the meeting. "The prices at which oranges are being sold in the majority of shops are lower than those fixed by the Government, as is shown by the following comparison:—l26's, shop, price, four for ls (Government price, 3s 2d a dozen); 150's-176's, five for ls /(150's, 2s lOd, 176's, 2s 6d); 200's-216's, six for ls (200's, 2s 4d, 216's, 2s 2d); 252'5-288's, eight for Is (2525, Is lOd, 288's, Is 7d). "COMPLETELY UNWORKABLE." "The principle of fixing prices for such a perishable commodity is, in our opinion, completely unworkable, because so much depends on quality and the amount of handling and storage. A minimum supply for fourteen days must be carried by the retailer, which means in some cases considerable depreciation in the fruit, because it is not delivered to us on arrival in New Zealand but in greater or lesser quantity is held in cool or other stores."