N.Z.'s Secondary Industries: £3,739,500 Distributed

Northern Advocate, 24 June 1939, Page 2

N.Z.'s Secondary Industries: £3,739,500 Distributed

fn reviewing the possibilities of expanding the secondary industries of this Dominion, the question of precedent immediately occurs to the more thoughtful section of the community. and in this respect a most striking example is to be found in the progress and development of the National Tobacco Company, Limited, of Napier, which, starting operations in 1923 with a handful of employees and assets aggregating only £14.000 odd, has, in the intervening years, built up a business with a turnover of approximately half a million pounds, that commands both the envy and admiration of its competitors. Some idea of (he magnitude of this company's phenomenal growth and its benefit to New Zealand generally can be gleaned from the latest available figures which, inter alia, disclose that during tiie past ten years the following amounts have been disbursed in New Zealand for the benefit of New Zealanders:—

In wages. £415,500; New Zealand growers, for New Zealand-grown leaf. £460.500; New Zealand-made tins and canisters, £275.500; New Zealand printers for labels and cartons. £41.200: New Zealand Railways for freights. £94,500; New Zealand timber and paper mills. £43.500; New Zealand charitable institutions and donations. £15.500. Dividends to New Zealand shareholders. £169.800.

To New Zealand Government—Excise and customs duties, £2.047.500; income tax. £ 176,000. Grand total: £3,739,500.

The most extraordinary feature of this colossal achievement lies in the fact that right throughout its progress this company has had to contend with the most intense and extensive competition from overseas combines with practically unlimited financial resources at their disposal.

Despite all this the National Company has continued to forge ahead solely as a result of the consistently high quality of its products, together with the exceptional managerial and manufacturing ability of Mr Gerhard Husheer, the founder and present managing director, whose philanthropic donations, especially during the depression years, will long be remembered by the recipients. Today there is not a shop or store in the Dominion where this company's tobaccos are not readily available. “Riverhead Gold, ’ “Cut Plug No. 10," ‘Navy Cut No. 3." "Cavendish." and "Desert Gold, are household words with the smoking public, and latterly this company has commenced another uphill climb in the ready-made cigarette field, and is attracting a considerable and growing volume of this trade by the unexcelled purity of both “Riverhead Gold and “Desert Gold" cigarettes. The history of this company is an epic in itself and only goes to prove that in catering for the public taste of Now Zealanders —male and female — young and old —the best and only the best is good enough for them, and that by working on these lines every secSondary industry now starting in New Zealand can. in time, hope to reach the high pinnacle of success that has been 'scaled so swiftly by the National To[bacco Company, whose very existence in itself is a living proof that quality, value, and service are the three keys i which invariably open the door of sue'cess, to the lasting benefit of New Zealand and New Zealanders. 133