GROWERS OPEN DEPOTS

Grey River Argus, 17 May 1946, Page 4

GROWERS OPEN DEPOTS

FRUIT & VEGETABLES War on Wellington Retail Front P.A. WELLINGTON, May 16. Owing to a dispute over container charges, retailers did not bid for fruit and vegetables at city markets this morning, and they are holding a meeting which is expected to last several hours. There was a swift reply by commercial growers supplying Wellington markets to-day to action of retailers in refusing to buy produce in containers for which charge was to be made. In the afternoon a statement was issued by the local Standing Committee of the Dominion Council of Commercial Gardeners, Ltd., announcing that, as from tomoriow, four depots would be opened by the growers in Wellington for the sale of their produce direct to the public. The permission of the City Council has been obtained for the setting up of the depots, which will be spread through the centre of the city.

To assist the public in carrying their purchases, carrier bags will be issued free by the depots. The depots will remain in operation daily, including Saturday morning, till the dispute is settled. The growers’ statement says: “For many years, a charge for containers has been made in the Wellington markets. The growers received', before February 1, 1945, 6d for their sacks and cases. On that date, under an emergency regulation, the Government imposed a container charge throughout the Dominion. This continued till April 17, when the charge was revoked. In announcing the revocation, the Minister of Marketing intimated that he favoured the continuance of the charge on a voluntary basis. “The price orders for retail sale allow for the cost of the containers,” the statement continues. “Therefore, the retailer is reimbursed for his payment in his selling price and the public pays. It has been suggested by the retailers that the charge is too small to be passed on, in the retail prices, but they have also stated that, if the charge is removed the benefit will be passed on to the public. It is difficult to reconcile the two statements."

The growers added that all industries took into consideratiin the container costs when fixing the wholesale price of their produce. In the case of the vegetable grower, this was not possible, for the auction set the selling price in the time of a glut. Therefore, when cases of produce were sometimes sold as low as one shilling, the grower, without a container charge, might find himseli faced with a solid debit, instead of a credit for his produce. RETAILERS’ INTENTION. TO SEEK PRODUCE WITHOUT CONTAINER CHARGE. P.A. WELLINGTON, May 16. The secretary of the Wellington Provincial Fruit Retailers’ Association, Mr. L. S. D. Chan Wai. said to-night that he had no comment to make on the growers’ plans for open air depots. The retailers would endeavour to buy such produce as was free of the container charge, and to supply the public so far as possible.