NEW ZEALAND MEAT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 2065, 10 January 1925, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND MEAT.

I.N A CLASS BY ITSELF. VALUABLE ADVERTISEMENT Mli JONES'S REPORT. <)no of the matters which Mr David Jones (chairman i>i' the New Zealand ■Meat Producers' Board)) investigated when lie was in ICuglnnd recently was r.:lic question of advertising New Zealand meat. This matter was also discussed a i Ihe annual meefting of delegates id elect. the hoard, which was held in Aliensi last. Mr .frvnes has now prepared a report, to the hoard on this subjocy, which reads a< follows: "In advertising there are two classes of people we want to reach—the butcher who sells our goods, and the consumer. Our meat requires no advertising amongst the butchers. New Zealand mutton and lamb stands in a. class by itself. It is in the meat trade what the Bolls-Royco is amongst motor cars, and the butcher will give preference to our mutton and Jamb all tHio time, other things being equal. The best illustration of how the butcher values our meat as an advertisement, himself, is fcliaqj I have not seen (and in many towns in England T have watched' for it) any other imported frozen meat marked up in. a butcher's shop with the country of origin suited, except New Znaland. In almost] every case, when the butchers selling NewZealand muton and lamb, he puts the fact up in large letters—it is tlbc recognised hallmark of quality. "My opinion is that no article of food in England gets the amount of tree advertising in the right place given ilo New Zealand Canterbury lamb. In the month's menus of the Daily Mail, with a circulation of 1,800,000 copies, there appeared on October Ist. the following, under meat: — Beef, mutton, po-tk, veal, venison, New Zealand lamb. And, sitting down to dinner on the American liner, the first night's chief joint was 'Canterbury Lamb,' and the following night 'Welsh lamb.' Such advertisements, won by sheer merit, are invaluable, "In entering upon a big advertising campaign, is is essential that the purchaser cm identify the article advertised. When meat is civil up into joints, chops, etc., it loses its identity unless if bears a brand (and for many reasons ii| is null considere advisable to disfigure our meat with brand*). The main |win* with the consumer is not whether it is New Zealand, Australian, Argentine or English meal. but, is it a first-class article that oris well, and brings the purchaser back to the butcher, not to growl, but to ask for the same article again? Newspaper advertising in Great Britain is exceedingly expensive, and I am convinced we could spend many thousands a year of the producers' hard-earned money without getting value for the expenditure. This, of course, does not suggest dispensing with advertising. We should continue sending out Kho single carcases of lamb for 33s to any pari of Britain. The acknowledgments coming in prove that this system is carrying the quality of our lamb into an ever-widening field and creating a demand in many places where is was previously unknown. DISPLAYS IN LONDON. "Last season our London representative (Mr Forsyth) arranged for dis-plays-crf lamb (specially picked in New Zealand for the purpose) in several of the leading shops in London. The butchers were keen to get the displays as an advertisement, and the Dominion reaped the advantage I am convinced that these displays are one of the most valuable advertising mediums that, avo possess ,aml can bo carried through at a small cost. I would suggest that wo advise freezing works and A. and P. Shows (that the board is prepared to arrange London displays of picked carcases, passed by the board's supervising grader*;. The meat would require ilo be sold to the shops at a moderate price, not above fair average price of the day, the London office to fix such price ,and take into consideration that the factory or t<ho Dominion is obtaining a valuable advertisement."