High Prices Cause Problem For Retail Butchers

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 September 1947, Page 5

High Prices Cause Problem For Retail Butchers

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Retail butchers were endeavouring to live honestly, but it was practically assumed that they had to break the price orders to live, said Mr W. S. Hughes, a member of a deputation representing the Canterbury Master Butchers’ Association, which yesterday met the meat and wool executive of the North Canterbury district of Federated Farmers. Mr Hughes, who is a former president of the New Zealand Master Butchers’ Federation, was accompanied by Mr E. R. Blanchard, president of the Master Butchers’ Association. They asked for Federated Farmers’ co-operation in solving the present difficulties of the butchery trade. At a later meeting of the North Canterbury executive of Federated Farmers yesterday afternoon, Mr I. L. M. Coop, chairman of the meat and wool executive, reported that his executive was prepared to give the retail butchers all possible support to have the winter prices for fat stock increased. It was felt that the butchers had a case for their representations, and that some success might be achieved in an approach to the Price Tribunal.

! Deputation’s Views While auctioneers and producers were seeking the highest possible price for livestock, the Government and the consumer were clamouring for meat to be sold in accordance with the price orders, which imposed a retail ceiling, said Mr Hughes, when the deputation waited on the meat and wool executive. Butchers were the only ones being prosecuted for price breaches; they were being perscuted from Auckland to Bluff. Butchers were almost tagged as criminals, said Mr Hughes. There seemed no hope of getting the retail meat ceiling prices abolished; stabilisation had. to remain. But where was the butchers’ margin?

Butchers wanted, to know if farmers could help them at all, said Mi’ Hughes. The subsidy had never measured up to the required margins of trading. Every time the Meat Board had discussed the export schedule with the Government, it had taken into account increased costs.

“We can’t go on as we are going,” said Mr Hughes. “Something has to be done.” Export houses were now supplying absut 41 per cent, of the meat on the hooks for Christchurch. Tn Wellington, 85 per cent, of the butchers were buying on the hooks, and the wholesalers had a stranglehold. If something was not done, there would be more and more buying on the hooks, and the export houses would have a monopoly. Cause of High Prices

“My opinion is that you have high prices today because of the, shortage of stock through the low prices last season,” said Mr G. H, Grigg. He continued that the Meat Board (of which he is chairman) was only an export board, and any question of winter buying was a concern of the butchers and the Government. Fie would agree that farmers’ costs had increased greatly arid that there should be a higher price for winterfattened stock.

Mr M. Spencer Bower said that taking an average over a period of 10 years, he did not think butchers had been paying excessive prices for fat stock. .

Mr Hughes said butchers had never bought meat —or beef at any rate—at the basic prices. If tjiere had been a domestic base for winter prices farmers would have been protected against bad seasons. At present the only price base was the export scheSule. The meeting then went into committee to discuss the points made by the deputation.