THE BUTTER “GAP.”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 5, 3 December 1932, Page 6

THE BUTTER “GAP.”

There is nothing more discomfiting to the already harassed farmer than to be told that his dairy produce ranks with the finest in the world the while another product compels a market premium of a considerable figure above his product. Such is the case of New Zealand butter in comparison with Danish. Recently, Danish butter has been commanding a price equal to 34s a cwt. above the Empire article, notwithstanding the 'fact, as the cables told us, that the consumptive demand was good and cold storage stocks were, by comparison, in a better position than they were a year ago. There is little wonder that the produce maker thirteen thousand miles from his market is perplexed when he reads, in the same message, that the traders themselves are unable to account for the extraordinary position. One reason is advanced —that the imposition of a higher duty on Danish in England has led to restricted shipments and that the lowering of the German tariff has enabled Denmark to send more butter into Germany, while Belgium is also buying freely. There is another reason, and one which should be given more attention. That is the extraordinary fact that in the North of England consumers prefer to pay lbd to 18d for Danish butter while New Zealand is available at Is. That is a vital matter, for those concerned in the industry, and proves that even yet there is scope for more intensive efforts by the New Zealand producers, through their Produce Board, to capture a greater share of the British market. Those who have observed the marketing of butter at first hand have told us that there is a psychological aspect about the English housewife’s buying of butter; that in some cases she prefers Danish because of its packing and freshness, and because of a mythical belief that butter shipped across the world must have some inferiority. That prejudice has been broken down in many parts of England and Scotland, but it is evident that in those parts of the United Kingdom which can be reached by Denmark within two days of manufacturing the produce the opposition will take a good deal to shift. The New Zealand producer must not be discouraged by these signs. Rather should they serve as a reason for a more intensive campaign of marketing.