FRUIT INDUSTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 10

FRUIT INDUSTRY

[DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM ORGANISATION ESSENTIAL LOCAL MARKET UNDER-RATED PROSPECTS' FOR BY-PRODUCTS / <L* • No. HI. There is. a growing feeling within the fruit-growing industry itself that the normal procedure of marketing in its present stage inadequate to meet existing Conditions—should be radically amended. Instead of catering primarily for the export trade, which, it is claimed, is uneconomic without Governmental assistance, it is felt that the orcliardist's first aim should bo to provide for the local market under n new and more rational system of distribution, using the surplus over Dominion requirements to forward overseas. Within New Zealand itself logical distribution is unknown. Northern growers axe faced with the knowledge that Auckland is considered a good market for every fruit producing district in the country and the unregulated supply of produce to the market has resulted in gluts and low prices in ono cenltre when other areas are starved of fruit. It seems indisputable that, with orderly marketing in vogue, the Dominion itself could consume the 1,(500,000' cases that are now despatched for export and the industry could be /expanded to at least this degree in order to maintain overseas requirements. Overseas Possibilities When ' the question resolves itself into a study of marketing prospects overseas,' the same optimism cannot be Baid to apply. The United Kingdom's imports are regulated by quota, while the hop6s that were held out for a market on the Continent have passed unrealised as the result of changes in fiscal policy. Until recently there was a growing demand in such countries as Germany for New Zealand apples, but prospects have been at least temporarily* eliminated by the new monetary policies that are being applied. With the expansion of European markets not being an immediate possibility, .there seems scope for investigation' in the East. The Fruit Export Control Board has encouraged the exploration of new markets and any further outlet for fruit which offers a payable return to the grower in New Zealand would encourage additional plant- . iflgs. ; . Disparity in Prices The wide disparity between the prices paid for fruit by the ultimate consumers and the small returns gained by the producer have encouraged several growers to attempt to work out their own salvation. On the basic contention that the average family does not require " fancy grades of apples, ■wrapped and packed in cases, one man has built up a clientele of 3000 by selling orchard run produce in bags at prices which give him a reasonable return on costs and which at the same time arte cheaper than the ordinary retail rates. It has been his suggestion that to appease the hunger for apples in the country district a scheme should be applied under which growers would put up their apples in bags and, under arrangement with the Kailway Department, consign them to various centres "throughout the Dominion. With a distributing officer present at each depot on certain days, they could be sold to the consumers at much lower prices than at present rule, and the grower, it is contended, would receive at least Id a pound for his fruit. Question of Standardisation On the other hand it is contended that this scheme would make any (scheme of standardisation impracticable as' it would fail to eliminatfe the lower grades of apples which are claimed to be depressing the market for fin&r lines. Admittedly a strict "system of standards would increase the amount of edihle fruit that is already pasted, but it is here that compensation would be afforded by higher returns. opportunity is also presented by the development of appje by-products, particularly in the form, of beverages. In a table compiled by the Fruit Marketing Committee it was shown that the annual consumption of apples per head of population in New Zealand

was 36.51b., the seeond highest figure in the seven countries that were grouped. But the Dominion's consumption of cider and fruit juices was infinitesimal, whereas in the United States 20.71b. of apples per head of population were consumed in this form and 24.71b. in Germany. The result was to raise the United States' total consumption to 51.61b. per head., compared with ftie New Zealand total figure of only 36.51b. Manufacture o! Beverages For the purpose of manufacturing by-products there is fruit in abundance, / and, although the necessary plant may be regarded as costly, some equipment of this type hps already been imported into the Dominion. New Zealanders, it is said, have little taste for a dry cider, but. there seems no reason why.an unfermented fruit juice, which has won such wide approval overseas, should not be manufactured. Already there is one plant in Auckland •undertaking this work and very palatable be\'erages, hygienically manufactured and of a uniform quality, have been produced. Growers consider, however, that some Government assistance, particularly on the distribution side, will be necessary if this subindustry is to prosper. With local marketing established on a rational basis, with existing overseas connections maintained, and with a search for new outlets undertaken, theyre is reason to hope that the production potentialities of the province "might bo fully realised. Considerable tracts of-land eminently suitable for fruit-growing still remain unoccupied and, if conditions were stabilised, their settlement would seem justified.