MARKETING POLICY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 154, 1 June 1937, Page 2

MARKETING POLICY

NEW SYSTEM DEFENDED. COMBATING DANISH. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, May 31. Recent price trends on the Dondori dairy market have shown one outstanding feature of great interest to the Dominion—the gradual reduction and ultimately temporary elimination of the margin of Danish butter prices over New Zealand. This is claimed by the Dominion marketing authorities as a partial justification, at least, for the new methods adopted in handling deliveries of butter on to the British market, and an ’answer to the criticism made earlier in the year that the new policy was antagonising trade and reacting unfavourably on the market. - “We cannot claim that a reduction of the margin is entirely due to our policy,” saiu Mr G. A. Duncan (actingDireetor of Marketing) when commenting on the position in a telephone interview with the Press to-day. “But it is only fair to say that noth the general trend ot prices and the narrowing of margin are indications that tnere cannot Lie much wrong with our marketing policy, it must surely he a fair iiiaicatiou that there cannot be marked hostility to, or boycotting of, our nutter as v>as suggested in Feuruary when the price Happened to be low. “It is the desire of the department, with the new system, to ensure that supplies should come on to the market as regularly as possible, extended over as long a period of the year as is reasible,” Mr Duncan said. “In the past the buyer could not be sure that lie would get certain quantities at stipulated periods, because the factories here sold outright and altered the destination of the butter altogether, ibis new system lias been maue possible, of course, by the guaranteed price plan of the Government. “There lias been some criticism of that scheme which entailed holding the butter in store for too long a period. Actually, there has not been much delay in this respect. What has occurred has arisen from a desire to spread shipments more evenly. The scheme will have a tendency to reduce the former wide fluctuations in price and has eliminated speculative f.o.b. buying which so often left the agents and customers high and dry, and probably accounted tor a loss of custom as well. That is why our plan is quite attractive to agents at Home.” Mr Duncan mentioned another improvement which, he said, the guaranteed price plan had brought’ about oil the market. The butter now being sold was remarkably improved in quality and the system of payment adopted giving quality premiums on grade points had definitely, led to an increase in high scoring butter and cheese.