FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 2777, 19 October 1923, Page 2

FROZEN MEAT INDUSTRY.

TOO MANY WORKS. An important point concerning- the frozen meat industry of New Zealand was touched on by Mr John Cobbc, chairman of directors of the Feilding Farmers' Freezing Company, at the annual meeting of shareholders, held on Wednesday afternoon. In referring to. the future of farmers' freezing companies in the Dominion, Mr Cobbo said that, he had given the matter serious consideration, and was satisfied that there were far too many works in New Zealand, in comparison to the amount of stock handled. In his opinion the directors of the farmers' meat companies were playing with the industry, and ho likened them to cmldren building castles on the sands at the seashore. When it was considered that the Argentine, with less than half the number of freezing works there are in New Zealand, were handling faurieen million head of stock per annum, as , against seven million handled in New Zealand, he hoped that the time was not far distant when the directors of the freezing companies would take a business-like view of the position, with a view to putting the industry on am improved basis. He hoped that a start would be made to bring about an amalgamation of the works, in order to reduce the cnor. mous work. No one realised what an enormous industry the meat freezing works amounted to, and what it could be made by the farmers centralising. Farmers were af present living from hand to mouth and he hoped it would not be long before some activity was displayed along the lines suggested.