DOMINION BUTTER LIKED

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 10, 22 December 1932, Page 5

DOMINION BUTTER LIKED

SHIP’S OFFICERS' PURCHASE. MEAT AND HONEY ALSO BOUGHT. . New Plymouth, Dec. 21. Practical appreciation of New Zealand food products is shown by the officers of the Commonwealth and Dominion Line motor vessel Port Hunter, which is loading at New Plymouth for Great Britain. Almost every officer on board purchases butter at New Plymouth and takes it with him to England, while some take their own meat and others honey. The officers of the Port Hunter are not alone in their preference for the New Zealand article, stated one of the officers of the ship yesterday. It has been for some time a practice of officers of many ships to purchase butter and meat for consumption by themselves and their families during the time their ship is at English ports. Most of them take half a box of butter or more and those whose homes are in London take half a carcase or perhaps a whole carcase of meat if their ship is due to stay any length of time in London. They can then take the meat from the ship as they require it. “I find it hard to get New Zealand butter in England,” said Mr. G. T. Harris, the chief officer of the Port Hunter to a “News” reporter yesterday. “If you ask for New Zealand butter you are given what is said to be New Zealand but it does not taste like the butter we buy here. If you ask a second time for New Zealand butter specially you are given Empire* butter, which may contain New Zealand, but it still does not taste the same. We prefer the New Zealand product and so we buy it here and make sure. I know you can get New Zealand butter at Harrod’s, for instance, in London, but it is not always certain at many shops.” “How is it that you prefer New Zealand frozen meat to English meat, which you can get fresh in England?” the reporter asked.

“You cannot always be sure of the quality of English mutton,” Mr Harris replied. “It may be tough and it may be tender. But you know that only the best is exported from New Zealand and that you can be sure of the lamb being tender and of good quality. It is always so tender that you could almost pick it off the bones. Besides, it is much cheaper in comparison with the price of English, which is rather dear.”

He had only just begun 'to take honey back to England, Mr. Harris said. The officers on the ship liked what they could buy in New Zealand and it was much cheaper than in England. Honey would cost about 1/5 a pound in England but it could be bought in New Zealand for about sixpence a pound.