WASTAGE IS THE ANSWER TO THE HIGH COST OF LEMONS TO THE CONSUMER IMPROVEMENT SOUGHT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23041, 3 September 1949, Page 8

WASTAGE IS THE ANSWER TO THE HIGH COST OF LEMONS TO THE CONSUMER IMPROVEMENT SOUGHT

\ decrease in the price of standard lemons to the consumer may be achieved in two ways without affecting the present return to the grower—a return which is about one-third of tho cost of the lemons over the counter.

Cutting down wastage is the answer both ways. , The costs of processing, handling and marketing lemons appear, to the uninitiated. to be exorbitant. Consumers, knowing that the grower receives only an average of threepence per lb. for his produce, ask why they should have to pay lOcl per lb. At this stage, it might be of interest to explain that the American orangegrower gets a smaller percentage return for his produce than does the New Zealand standard lemon grower. The grower's margin on the orange in America was 25.7 per cent in the 1947-43 season, a break-down of his costs being shown later in this article. Comparative figures for the New Zealand lemon, however, arc not available for publication for some obscure reason.

grower in regard to picking. Fruit that is tree ripe has a very short keeping life and is of little use as marketable fruit. Regular picking to size repays the grower because it enables him to get his fruit away with a larger proportion of it in the preferred commercial and commercial grades which carry the top rates. Supervision of Labour There should be careful supervision of casual labour at the time of harvesting. Lemons should not be pulled from the trees as is sometimes the case. They should be cut off with picking shears for best results, not with loot-rotting shears as has been the case. A lemon punched with a thorn on the ’tree or pieced with' a sharp object used for cutting will quickly develop blue mould and initiate waste.

Marketing Department, officials arc conscious of the fact that wastage is one of their major problems and provision must necessarily be made for that when claiming their portion of the ultimate value of a case of lemons. In doing their part to combat this wastage the department has called on the assistance of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Department of Agriculture. Charges and Counter Charges

The costs of producing and marketing citrus in America are treated openly and growers are kept fully informed on that score. There appears little need for the cloak of secrecy within the shores of New Zealand. In a recent issue of the American Citrograph is an article on the citrus dollar, which explains why oranges have to sell in the retail shops in {he States at Gd per lb. It was staled that growers’ costs on a single packed box of about 801 b., amounted to 9s (id in 1948. taking into account irrigation at Is 3d. fertilisation Is 7d pest control 2s 3d and frost protection 9d. That represented an increase of 239 per cent on the 1940 standard of costs. Other Costs Increase

In many quarters much political eapi tal has- been made of the wastage sub iect. and manv of the growers mem selves have been alleged to be uncooperative.

If those allegations and countercharges have stirred the Marketing De partment to enlist the aid of science on their side so much to the good, but it is found that many of the older growers who have earlier had the experience of free marketing still favour a form of control. How that form of control should be exercised is a subject for debate. The Director of Marketing. Mr. L. C. Webb, has explained to growers’ representatives that all efforts will be made to put the marketing houses in order and now it should behove the growers to show a similar co operative spirit in an effort to reduce waste and increase the level of the final bonus, or assist to make their fruit available to the consumer at a lower rate.

Packing house costs had shown a rise of 130 per cent on the 1940 level, amounting now to 7s per box. Picking now cost Is fid per box and packing 4s lid. Freight and refrigeration now cost 8s per box and the middleman’s costs had risen 32 per cent to 11s a box within the eight years under review. The total cost of placing the box on the market, without accounting for profit margins, was 3Gs 3d. The higher the retail price the larger the share of the consumer's dollar the grower received. The breakdown of the consumer dollar for oranges for 1946-47 follows, the costs being retained in cents as otherwise it would involve dealing in minute fractions of a penny:— Cents Grower's cosfs/ .. .. .. 25.70 Grower's profit 02.30 Packing house costs 14.30 Advertising and selling .. .. 02.60 Freight and refrigeration costs .. 19.30 Profit 00.96 Jobber costs 06.30 Jobber profit 00.31 Retn’l costs 25.90 Retailer profit 01.29 "The prospect for more efficient marketing appears to lie less in the squeezing of profits than in reduction of operating costs per unit of foods marketed.” it states. Part of the answer to the grower's problem may bo answered by:— 1. Greater vieids per tree.

If the waste factor is reduced to a minimum through more careful and more scientific handling then the retailer also should be expected to release his grip on part, of his lion’s share of the cost per lb. to the consumer. After all, the retailer retains almost twice Ihe percentage charged bv.the Marketing Department and. it is understood, also makes claims for wastage. Lead Should be Given Growers seeing their produce handled more carefully in the packing sheds throughout the country will follow the lead However, while those assurances have been given bv Mr. Webb, growers mav feel better protected in this respect if their representatives were able to make periodical inspections of the packing houses in their districts. Reports of inspecting r immittees of the kind should be treated with respect, and growers then could look lo their represen'afives to watch their inlerests.

2. Improved sizes and qualitv of fruit .3. Efficiency in production; and 4. Efficiency in marketing.

The form of grower cooperation wouH be relatively simple and would involve, essentially, care in the orchard; the treatment of the cron as a worthwhile industry rather than as a sideline. Firstly, thev should check on their cases to ensure that thev have no rough edges or nails protruding. They shou'd not ton up their cases too much, enabling the cases to be stacked on” on ton of the other in the restricted space of the shed without damage to the fruit. Quite a deni of wastage cou’d be avo'dtfd if those two simple rules were observed for a start.. Spraying schedules should be fol lowed out to cheek the normal infes‘a tions in an orchard, and some discrimination should be shown by the