THE MEAT TRADE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 September 1924, Page 9

THE MEAT TRADE.

MB JONES’ VIEWS.

CONTROL BOARD ACTIVITIES. REPLIES TO SOME CRITICS. (Reprinted from The Dominion.) LONDON, Aug. 16. It is doubtless generally known by all who are interested in the meat trade, in the Dominion' that the New Zealand Moat Producers’ Board has recently had under discussion the desirableness of inaugurating an advertising campaign to make, better known in the Mother - Country New Zealand meat and its high standard of quality. Mr David Jones, chairman of'the Board, has been on, a tour of the chief provincial centres, and he has come to the conclusion that an advertising scheme is not necessary, because all the butchers already, of their own initiative, display prominently labels and cards bearing words such as “New Zealand Meat,” “Canterbury Lamb.” This practice is a rapidly extending one, and it applies not. only to the big stores and- to the multiple shops, but also to. the small retail businesses as well, and therefore the view is held that tlieTe. is no need to spend money on advertising in this connection. A SUCCESSFUL METHOD.

The board’s system of advertising New Zealand lamb by sending choice carcasses direct to any address in Great Britain has been particularly successful, and is undoubtedly a splendid means of greatly extending the trade, especially in the provinces. APPRECIATION OP QUALITY. During his tour Mr Jones did not meet a single butcher who was not ready to acknowledge the superiority of New Zealand meat in comparison with other imported meat. Indeed, the Dominion’s product stands‘in a class by itself, and the general recognition of its high quality is sufficient guarantee of the extension of the demand for it. In these days there is not so much imported meat from other countries being sold as “New Zealand, ’’ /while it is a gratifying fact that wholesale prices for the New Zealand .product are always considerably higher than are the prices of any other class of imported meat. Proof of this is to be found in the fact that the mutton and lamb—more particularly the lamb—sells in the shops at the highest prices, and the. man who retails it has come to appreciate its marked superiority. - After, visiting several of the leading provincial centres in the Midlands, Mr Jones went through to Edinburgh, and he returned via Liverpool and Manchester. He has been in the southwestern counties also, and he finds that the demand for New Zealand meat is very general throughout England. During a brief visit to Belfast, he noticed that a small quantity of prime lamb had been landed there, but he does not anticipate that there -will ever be. anything but an exceedingly small demand for New Zealand meat in Ireland.

DOUBLE BAGGING OF BEEF., There has never .been a very great sale for frozen meat of any kind in -Scotland, the chief reason being that the country always has had a good supply of its own home-grown meat, while, further, with one or two exceptions, the Scottish cities are not so large as •the English provincial centres, and they can therefore be fed without the aid of refrigeration. Nevertl/less, the trade in imported nieat is increasing in Glasgow and Edinburgh, though Mr Jones does not anticipate a very large development 'of business there in bestquality mutton and lamb. In Glasgow there is a fairly large trade in poor qualities of beef, more particularly in boned beef. In all the shops there is a great, deal of minced meat and sausage meat always available for sale, and this is what the working classes seem most to buy. Last ■year, the New Zealand Meat Producers ’ Board made the double bagging of beef compulsory, and the. trade here is very appreciative of this improved mode of covering. But the board did not include boned beef in its regulation because it was not desired to add additional cost to a low-priced article. However, Mr Jones is satisfied, after seeing the state in which the boned beef arrives, that its double bagging is essential for the future. Some of the New Zealand firms have already adopted this method, and as the result their meat turns out in niuch better condition. » HANDLING COSTS. A more regular trade in meat generally lias been done with the West of England 'ports, partly because of the increased demand, but largely b.ecause of the cheaper handling costs, as compared with the Port of London. Mr Jones says that Manchester to-day is the cheapest port- for cold storage in the United Kingdom, and it offers very attractive terms over any very lengthened period of storage. The rates of cold storage in London, which are practically fixed by the Port of London Authority, are almost prohibitive. At the ' present moment Mr jd Jones is investigating closely the reaJy sons for the high storage charges in London, and in due course he will make a report to his board as to the best means for overcoming them. In some measure New Zealand has found the solution of overcoming the difficulty by earefyl regulation of ship--ments, so that as far as possible the meat is stored in the Dominion when necessary instead of in London. Even so, the present- rates of cold storage in London are a very heavy burden for the trade to carry. PROVINCIAL REQUIREMENTS. It ha s always been known that in the provincial and manufacturing centres it is the second quality meat that best suits the requirements of the consumers, and that the sale of the choice grades would be eomparativelv • small. Mr Jones has come to the same conclusion, and he has been told by those who know that, the first quality meat- is not suited to the millworkers in Manchester, for instance, where the humidity of the atmosphere and the nature of the work make it impossible for these consumers to digest much fat. Lean meat is what they must have. For some months past, the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board has had its own officer at the docks in connection with the work of handling the meat as the vessels unload, and he has suggested and carried out many improvements. The shipping companies have accorded him their full support and assistance. This inspection with the minimum quantity of carcasses at 250 has resulted in a very great improvement

in discharge and in condition. There still remains much to be done, but it is now anticipated that the new regulations enforced by the Ministry of Health, to come into operation on Ist October, will materially assist the board in its work. Cleanliness in thf handling . of food is essential, and Great Britain has in the past been behindhand with her legislation in this connection. REPLY TO CRITICISM.

Mr Jones has seen in a New Zealadn paper recently a certain amount of criticism, and the statement that the board’s regulation of shipment had broken down. It was stated that twelve ships had arrived in Great Britain within nineteen days. The actual facts are that eleven ships arrived during the month of February carrying 560,000 actual carcasses. This quantity is scarcely more than is required for the month’s trade at that period of the year. “■The number of ships arriving,” said Mr Jones, “is no guide whatever to the. quantity of meat carried. It was not the arrival of this meat that adversely affected the market, but the carry-over of about 700,000 lambs from all sources of import from the previous season. This carry-over came about in consequence of the enormous supplies of meat imported into Great Britain during 1923. The remarkably good prices that we have been receiving all through this season effectually dispose of the statement that the arrival of these vessels ‘smashed the market,’ ” • MEAT AT WEMBLEY.

The exhibit of New Zealand meat at Wembley has been a great success and continues to attract the interested attention of the great crowds who pass through the New Zealand pavilion. This Mr v Jones takes as an indication of the value of this form of advertising. All the meat displayed was specially selected in New Zealand and carefully packed, and it arrived in England in perfect condition. The two cabinets containing meat have, since they ■\yere ready for showing, been the subject of congratulatory comment. The exhibit in one of the big refrigeration cabinets has recently been altered, and the opinion '•is generally expressed that it forms an even more effective display than the first method of dressing. There is far less cut meat, and more whole carcasses of choick lamb and mutton. ’Eight mirrors have been placed in the cabinet, and these, by -skilful arrangement, produce a graduated vista of prime carcasses extending into a far distance.

Many people, said Mr Jones, have criticised the New Zealand pavilion at Wembley, who were there on the opening day, or probably even a fortnight later. “So sweeping,” he remarks, “was some of the early criticism that it might have been made by disappointed job-seekers. So far as the frozen meat display was concerned, the London representative of the Meat Board had his meat ready for the opening day, but the power was no|| available then, or for some time aftervrards, and it was impossible to place meat in show eases until the refrigeration machinery v could be set go ( ing. So far as the meat and dairy produce of the pavilion is concerned, appreciation "has been general and widespread. ’ ’ .Mr Jones, accompanied by Mr J. S. Jessep, and Mr R. S. Forsyth, intends to leave next' week for Belgium and Denmark on a. business trip. In Belgium they will meet Mr J. P. H. Mertehs (New'Zedlaffd’s buts'iness Yepr tentative at Antwerp). Belgium may prove to be a suitable market for New Zealand meat.