MILLIONS LOST! HOW MANY?

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 April 1925, Page 4

MILLIONS LOST! HOW MANY?

(To the Editor.) Sir, —New Zealand butter has been selling for months at some £55 a ton less than the Danish, a disparity in price resulting in a loss ol nnUious oi pounds to this Dominion. The ence is not caused by interior quality ; otherwise the Imperial accumulations of New Zealand butter, when purchased'% British merchants, yvoiua not have realised no to within a ton of the Danish, while small lots o ours have 'actually been sold since at more than the best article nesh Loin that country. There are definite causes operating against our product selling on a parity with that iroin Denmark, and our Dairy Control Board in its judicial and controlling capacities will require all 'Lie help and encouragement the Government, land Chambers of Commerce, and the i people of New Zealand can give to decide what the causes are and what measures may'be necessary to «nein<mcthem. , It is recognised by experts .hat our highest grade butter, when opened up in London, is of equal quality wi.h the finest Danish and that it is in the direct interests of our factory supplier to maintain its quality by. supplying the highest possible class or milk to their factory. managers. This should be followed uo with the Dairy Control Board’s policy of having one New Zealand brand for our highest grade, and each factory having, at least ior a time, its own brand and mi nicer on the reverse side of each package. Ihe butter should then be shipped to the most likely markets and its progress watched carefully 'bv the Board s agents, to safeguard ks arrival in the best condition at the cool stores. Our representatives then have their obstacles’and their opportunities. They meet endeavour to secure value for quality without unduly,or unnecessarily undercutting and antagonising British farmers. They have had to face difficulties through the non-regulation ot supplies and the campaign against the use of preservatives, which “bears’ and speculators have made use of to depress prices and perhaps involuntarily assist those who are blending our fine quality butter with the inferior sorts arriving from Siberia and other countries. The policy of agents in the past has almost invariably been to get the butter to markets and sold as soon as possible, and no one could reasonably expect them to do otherwise. This regulation of supplies, comes under the supervision of the Dairy Control Board, and will certainly not he neglected by its capable chairman and members. ' The* action being taken against the use of preservatives in Britain is probably one very serious cause of New Zealand butter being 6old at so much less than.its value, not because of. any likelihood of injury from preservatives, but on account of the publicity given to the ban. Trade rivals use advertisements such as “There are no preservatives in our butter,” inferring that because New Zealand butter may contain an infmitestimal proportion it cannot be just as wholesome. It ‘is admitted that some of our factory * managers have used what is generally conceded to be a harmless percentage of boracie acid. Others prefer the ordinary bicarbonate of soda, and a few protect with a minimum of common salt. Boracie acid is. a cleansing agent less injurious than many of our everyday beverages and condiments. Carbonate of soda is generally advantageous to health, and common salt is essential ; nevertheless if consumers desire butter without preservative we must conform to their requirements, retain the confidence of present users, gain and hold that of the British public generally, and look for a price in parity with the Danish. Doing this we should reap the benefit of the extra- millions which would then come to our suppliers and ponulation, to he recirculated again, chiefly amongst, British workmen for the goods which are so highly appre? ciated in this Dominion.

These are some of the important matters which command, and will receive, the due attention of the Government, the Dairy Control. Board, and the chambers of commerce of this Dominion.—l am, etc.,

FACTORY SUPPLIER Palmerston North.