NELSON DISTRICT FRUITPACKERS, LIMITED

Nelson Evening Mail, 3 August 1916, Page 7

NELSON DISTRICT FRUITPACKERS, LIMITED

STATUTORY ALEETTNIG. The statu torv meeting of the Nelson District Fruitpackcrs. Ltd., was held at the iPnblic Hail, Upper Aloutere, yesterday afternoon. There was an attendance 'of about 60 .shareholders, and amongst the districts represented were Riwaka, Alotuoka, the Alouteres, Ngatinioti. Redwood's Valley, the ATaimeas. and Nelson City. The following provisional directors wrre present : Messrs AY. S. Pnodgrass (Chairman). C. 11. 'Chamberlain. F. J. Ha.ll. AV. C. Russell. E. Smallbone. Apologies for abseuee were received frem Messrs ■.R. 15. Jackson. A. Gilbert and U. A. .Deo. all of whom were indisposed. Mr Snodgras.s presided over the meeting. There Wore also present : Messrs H. G. Hill (manager). C. R. Fell (company's solicitor). A.. 11. Alazure (by-products expert).' and 'Bowman (bee expert, by special invitation). The directors presented a report which had already been circulated- amongst shareholders. The chairman moved and- Mr J. Sharp, junr.. K-eco.'ided. "that the report be adopted. It was resolved that the number of directors be nine.

The i'ollow.iua were nominated as di rectors :—Messrs C. 'PL Ma< kay. AY. A

J. Briggs. IT. 15. Everett. YV. Rowlings (representing the Motueka side) : >lr R. B. Jackson (representing Redwood's Va\lev) : Mr YV. S. Snoti grass (representi'.g Moutere Hills): Messrs A. Cilb.rt :\v.d YV. G. Russ-ell (representing Waimeas) ; Air AY. A. Dee * ;representing- Nelson).

'There being no further nominations, the chairman declared the foregoing elected amidst amV.ause.

ALTERATIONS IN ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION.

After brief discussio.--. several alterations were made in the Articles of Association. It was agreed, amongst other things, that there be no "non-growers" shares, but that there be "staff" shares, whie.h, .however, can only be held by permanent employe.es of the company. Another alteration was the reductio.". of the maximum dividend to bo paid from 10 per cent, to 6 per cent. The resolutions have yet to be confirmed at a subsequent general meeting of shareholders.

BY-PRODUCTS OF THE ORCHARD.

Air Alazure then delivered' the following address on the by-products of the orchard : In reference to the by-product of the apple, before going into any details, I wish to impress upon the growers that, in connection with cider, the idea of requiring any one particular variety of apple "for "this purpose, has long since been proved a fallacy. Any _ variety of apple with a juice of a specific .gravity of not- less than IC6O is suitable. Naturally the better the apple the better the cider, but the judicious blender can attain an extremelv high standard, as is shown by the first-class quality of the Tn,«rmanian eider, a small quantity of which has been distributed amongst some of the larger growers in the Nelson district. This cider .has been made from

I the cnles of the orchard. Aly great point in the manufacture of cider is this-. So much artificial non-alcoholic cider is sold in New Zealand (approximately 1C0..0C0 [ gallons) that it should be the aim of ' this company to replace ! the artificial ; concoction with the genuine article. This I can bo done at a lower cost if carefully ! treated-. Extensive advertising, backed I up by a first-class product, woud.l ensure ; a vei'v large output. In the ease of cider ; making, the best of the culled apples ; would be used, the others being more ; profitably turned into evaporated apples

and. vinegar. The market prospect for vinegar is, I consider, unlimited. The vinegar could be manufactured to contain no less than 4.35 per cent, by volume of acetic acid. The requirements of the Food and Drug Act are sr.ch that no brewed or other vinegar shall contain less than 4 per cent, by volume of acetic ae-id. There has been some doubt expressed as to the prices I quoted on the occasion of my last visit here, but these prices were for vinegar containing 7 per cent, to' .7.5 per c-entr of acetic acid.. This vinegar is, in manv cases, broken down. Aly idea is that'this company .should do all. the breaking down that is required., thereby keepiug the extra profit themselves. Vinegar is used in every household, and while there are some "good brands on the market, there are also a great number that are inferior. The aim of the company should be to produe-e a firstclass article at a low price (this can be dono because of the large quantity oi ! culls that will be handled) making the I quality such 'as will defy, -competition, j There" should be no trouble in obtaining a good market for first-class vinegar, and I feel that this will prove probably the jmost important by-product that will be handled.

Another important by-product is the evaporated apple ring. This process is simple, while the market prospects are extremely good. The company, in this respect, need not confine itself to local markets, for I believe an ope;! door will bo found into Australia, where large

quantities of evaporated apples are imported from America. Apart fronr Tasmania, to my knowledge, there is only one large evaporating plant, and that is situated'in South Australia. Apart from Australia, there should be other good markets abroad. In connection with tin evaporating, the: apples are peeled amf cored. the peelings and cores being pressed audi the jui'ce therefrom turned into excellent vinegar. To return to cider manufacture. A point largely in your favour is that 2s per .gallon duty is imposed oh all cider iniportedi into the Dominion. This fact alone would, I have no doubt, be sufficient reason for mating the: merchants stock the company's -product, instead o! drawing it from- Australia. I am also of the opinion that the medical faeulawould encourage the use of this delightfully refreshing beverage. There are other by-products of the apple, such as pulp, canned' apples and jellies. Sauces and various excellent condiments can also be manufactured, so that there is an unlimited scope for the company's future operations. Foegarding distribution of the various by-products. A-koholic and non-alcoholic cicfei-, still or aerated', can be sold in bulk or case lots. Vinegar is handled in the. same manner, while the dried fruit is sold in lib packets, and 71b, 14th. 231b, and 561b boxes, packed according to grade. Providing that the company turns out a first-class article in every instance, I feel confident that business will be done on such a scale that will cause gratifi. ation to those who are fortunate enough to be shareholders. I am submitting a detailed report, and estimates, of the factories and plant re quired to the directors, and doubtless this will receive their immediate consideration. Replving to questions. Air Alazure said that oil could bo extracted from apple pips, but the cost of the necessary plant [was excessive; alcohol could also be ex- [ traded, but he had not heard of it being tiscd as motor spirit.

In reply to a question, Mr Hill said that about a third of the crop was generally regarded as rejects, and {he company estimated that it would handle 135,000 cases of fruit for by-products. 'The more ho went into this matter the more satisfied he became that in the future, -it-would not he so much a matter of providing additional cold storage as some people .thought, but of converting tfie apple? into by-products. The question of labour was mentioned, and Mr Alazure stated that altogither IS hands would be required) at the two factories.

Replying to Mr Owe".. Mr Alazure oxpressed the opinion that there would be an outlet for the by-products. To another question Mr Mmip-o re plied that a bushel of apples would produce 6;b of evaporated fruit or 41b <d dried fruit. Mr R.ussell remarked that in 191-1 a thousand tons of evaporated apples were Imported into New Zealand. so there should be a market tor the company s output. PACKING SHED-.-:. Mr Mackay asked the position in regard to sites fur packing sheds. Air 'H.i'.l said the growers in each district were to decide amongst themselves where the sites should be. and then inake recopTmendati.ni>. to the directors. These recommendations should b ■ in as soon as possible. STONE FRCTT. j Air Sutton ashed' wucther the company 'intended doing anything in connection with stone fruit. Air Hill replied that there had been some misunderstanding on this subject. At the out=et ike company could not -go in for the erection of canning factories, etc. It must teel its way. The commnv. however, was out to handle all kinds of fruit—stone or pip. Business must bo continuous. It would not do for customers to look to the conwanv for pio fruit and. have to go elsewhere for stone fruit. GE NEPAL, Mr Hill referred to- the vn'uab-e services thit had- been rendered by the provisional directors. Following amalgamation with the Aloutere Company, it became desirable to have the whole district represented on the directorate, and a number of provisional directors bad withdrawn to enable this to be done. He moved a vote of thanks to the provisional directors. Seconded by Air Jones, and carried with applause. Air Hal] -moved! that shareholders congratulate Air Hill on the success which had attended his efforts to establish the company. He regretted the attitude of the other .(Tasman) Company towards amalgamation.

Air Owen seconded in an optimistic speech. The motion was carried with apo-lause.

In acknowledging the vote. Air Hill asked> for the support ,of all ■sh.nreiholders. For his part he would spare x:n effort to make the eon.-cm the biggest south of the line. (Applause). The -proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman.