BACON INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19158, 26 October 1925, Page 14

BACON INDUSTRY.

ENGLISH MARKET PROSPECTS.

Some very interesting remarks regarding the prospects of the export of frozen pork to the English market were made at the annual meeting of the Inglewood Cooperative Bacon Company by the chairman of directors, Mr. A. Morton, who has just returned from a trip to Britain. During two out of the past three years the company had shipped some of its surplus stock to England', and this year had sent four shipments overseas. One left just prior to his departure, and on his arrival Home he had got into touch with the agents who handled the pigs and the men who cured them. He had also inspected the pork in the cool stores on arrival, and was satisfied that it was handled properly and was put into store in firstclass condition. As the result of his inquiries fie was satisfied that as long as they produced, killed, and shipped the same quality of pig as they had done during the past 12 months they would have no difficulty in finding a market. The merchants who handled the pigs were very pleased with the quality, as they told him that the pigs imported from New Zealand more closely approximated those received from the English and Scottish farmer than any other imported pig. In fact they were anxious to contract for regular monthly supplies, but he told them that that was impossible until production expanded. He did not know what the price would be, but as long as it continued on a par with that of the past twelve months they could export at a profit. The Inglewood Company had handled a record number of pigs, 10,552, an increase of 2000 over the previous year, and if they had not exported 3000 pigs there would have probably been a glut on the market, as the New Zealand consumption was a limited one. The reason there had not been a glut was because production was limited also. New Zealand killed only a quarter of a million pigs annually, whereas Denmark, which was only as big as Hawkc's Bay, killed 2,500,000. They could thus see 'the possibilities of the industry, and while he could not hope for rapid strides he felt that if farmers took the matter up as the Danes did, not as a side line, but as one of the mainstays oi the industry, better results would bo obtained in the future. —(North laranaki Correspondent).