THE PRICE OF FRUIT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14715, 24 December 1909, Page 5

THE PRICE OF FRUIT

COMPLAINT BY A GROWER. AN AUCTIONEER'S ANSWER. To bridge tho gap between grower nn<l (ho buyer, tho producer and the consumer, there is necessary in modern lite, owing to tho_ development and specialisation of industries, middlemen who net as the distributing agents between tile two classes. And .it is the share of the total price of tho product retained by ibis distributive class which is often the subject of complaint from both grower mid consumer, the one alleging that in view of the price paid to the 'middlemen by the consumer he (the grower) docs not receive a commensurate return: while, on the other hand, tlio consumer alleges that, sir.ee the price laid lo the grower by tlio middleman suffices to yield to that individual a prot, ho (the consumer) would be able to purchase are article at a much cheaper rate' were tho services cf the middleman dispensed with or liis share reduced.! This is, in fact, true, but it is iust the difficulty which ox'u'ts in tlio way of grower dealing directly with the consumer that has called into existence- the distributing agent, who actually docs render service to the communiiy by bridging the gap. Experience has shown time and a.gain that it is better for all concerned—both srrowors and consumers lo co-ordinate their transactions with one individual, exclusively engaged in the capacity of medium, rather than for each to attempt to deal directly with the other—a courco which would inevitably cause unnecessary duplication, x Particularly in regard to the fruit industry have charges been lovellcd against lh<s middleman oi receiving excessive payImcnt fcr inadequate services rendered, to die detriment, of both grower and consumer. Tho following letter contains such a charge, coupled with several pi smaller moment, and, in consequence of its receipt, a member of our staff mado some investigations amongst tho men particularly concerned, their replies being appended to the charges made.

THE ALLEGATIONS. Sin,—ln a recent issue of the Witness I noticed that an Otago Central fruitgrower gave his experience concerning the sale of lruit consigned by him to one of the auction rooms in Dunediii. Ho stated that on one occasion he happened to drop in just as sonic cases con=.gned by him were being, offered. The price offered being so ridiculously sniailt he stopped the sate and removed his fruit, selling it elsewhere at 2d per lb more than was offered in the saleroom. Now, Sir, I see no reason to doubt, tlio truth of this stutoment, us my own experience tallies with it. I have consigned a considerable amount of fruit during tho past few years, and, with few exceptions, obtained a very poor return. This used to puzzle me it bit until about a year ago, when, in convemttion on tlio subject with a friend who for several years carried on business in Dunedin as a fruiterer, he let mo into the secret'. He declared to mc that a nryj existed among tho fruitsCllurs of Dunedin. Ono of their number would bo told off to buv for the lot, and, competition thus being reduced to a minimum, the fruit would be obtained for next to nothing, thus robbing tho grower of his hurd-oamed profits. He also told mo that the auctioneer sometimes works into the hands of regular customers. Thus, on several occasions "ho had entered tho saleroom before,tho sale began, when the auctioneer would say to him, "Well, Mr , what do you require to-day? Just point out what you want and I'll knoek.it down to you at your own price." Now, Sir, I ask is this sort of tiling fair to tho producers who consign their fruit to thoso salerooms, and. rely on the auctioneer doing his best for Mem? Wo hrar a lot about tho cry of cheap fruit for tho people, but under this system they aro never likely to get it; the middleman takes care of that. Tho grower has io run tho gauntlet of all the orchard pests, and then get little return for his labour, while tho middlemen risk little and pocket .what should have gone .to the producer. What is wanted' is a system whereby the producer coukl sell direct to the consumer, and .thereby obtain a better return for his labour, while at the same time the consumer could get it cheaper from the fruit shops. Such a system would be a boon alike to tho producer and the consumer. As an instance of what a. grower lias to put un with, I may state that last season I consigned several cases of good plums to a firm for sale, and realised tho enormous price of id per lb, while a consignment of apples brought even less. I let over half a ton of good' plums go to waste rather than bother gathering them, as I just escaped having to pay out instead of receiving. Another thing: Growers have to provide cases for their fruit, and these are given in, no allowance being made for them. For lar.go consignments this is a. serious item. By the time a grower gets his fruit to market and disposed of ho is at a considerable expense. Railage, commission, and cosit, <)f cases all come out of his pocket. What, encouragement does this state of affairs give to tho growing of fruit—l am, etc., Taieri. Anti-Middleman.

A DENIAL AND REFUTATION. After a careful'perusal'of a copy of this letter, tlio lending fruit auctioneer to whom it was submitted said to our representative: "It >s absolutely untrue that any ring exists among the fruiterers of Duuedin, for there is far too much competition. Amongst the agents, also, thorn is too much competition to paritiit. of such a thing, for. each auctioneer gets the best price lie can possibly obtain in the market. There are no fewer than seven competitive firms here, and all hold independent sales and secure tlio best prices they possibly can from the competing buyers."

"Will there be any co-operation among individual buyers? was asked.

Tho reply was: ''There may perhaps be one or two buyers who agree between themselves to buy ono particular'line, but as a rulo tho auctioneer can generally detect that kind of thing and counteract it. Tho best answei lo this question is for ajiy person interested to come to our sales in the morning and witness for themselves the competition which prevails. This is always especially keon for choice lines of fruit."

The auctioneer continued: "With regard to that particular instance cjtcd about fruit being sold by tho grower tor inoro outside. the saleroom than was offered within, this, 'I believe, did' no ttako place in Duncdin.but in Christchurch, whore a ring does exist, because there arc but the two auctioneers, and not seven as here. That is the reason for the existence of a powerful ring nmoungst the retailers and the existence of this ring is openly, admitted.

"This particular grower further states tho price he realised for his plums, and in this connection all I have to {ay is that ho cither did not send them to tlio right salesman or else his fruit was of a vory inferior quality. As a matter of fact, at tho present time in New Zealand there are great quantities of fruit grown which really should never havo been planted, because the trees are of an inferior kind. The product of tliceo inferior trees causes, or helps to cause at certain seasons of the year, a glut of the market, so that this quality of fruit is almost entirely unsaleable. On the. other hand, prime-quality fruit, always finds its market and realises payable prices. Just to show you the difference for different qualities of fruit, look at this morning's sales. Strawberries this morning ranged from Is to Is 10£ d per lb; New Zealand-grown oherries brought from 6d to 7d per lb, while extra choice lots from Alexandra brought Is lOd. You thus seo that tho price realised for the fruit is absolutely dependent iipon the quality, and it is at once impossible and foolish for growers to expect to get tho top price for their fruit if that dees not happen to be of tho best quality.

"To show you a further difference," continued the agent. " Compare the prices received by tho grower in Xow Zealand with those received in Tasmania, where tho growers aro all prosperous hecau.ie they run their businesses on sound and right lilies, For first-class dessert plums tho grower her© 'usually gets from between 2d and 4d per lb; in Tasmania the fame quality of fruit rarely brings more than l£d per lb, and is usually sold at Id per lb, and yet that price- pays the grower there we'll. In apples, again, our growers obtain from 4s 6d to 6s 6<l per ease of 341b to 361b; in Tasmania the grower makes a handsome living when ho receives from 3s to 5s 6d per ease of 441b to 481b.

"In the industry here it is always, as elsewhere, the intelligent and capablo grower who does well, hut it is tinfortuuatoly only too true that so far tho. industry has not advanced too such a stago as to permit us to say that all our growers arc to bo included in that category. 'A recognised grower who engages in the industry in a fairly largo way and grades and cases his fruit propertly, always reaps the full benefit of tho market; whereas the careless grower, or one who has very little knowledge of his business, who boxes his iruit in kerosene cases and other boxes indieoriminatory and who puts all grades of fruit together naturally Buffers in his receipts."

With regard lo this statcmont about the boxes? queried the inq,uiri«c in closing,

" The practice all over tlio world," was | the reply. " is that tlio case always gees j with the fruit, and dees nor go back to I (he glower unless it is a special package, i Mich as baskets or siwcial crates. If a grower has choice fruit, it will pav him to hav£ special packages, branded with his name, and these lie will get returned, lint the ordinary fruit case generallv goes with the fruit. "You ran say in conclusion," remarked the auctioneer, "that this particular firm is perfectly willing to show any grower tho passage of his fruit-right through tho books from the time of receipt into the store till it reaches the buyer." A member of our staff dropped into some ot tiio sales as they were in progress. It. was a >-ecno of animated bustle; a crowd of buyers was in attendance; cratre and cases of fruit were systematically ranged prior to going under " the hammer. Naturally at this time of the vcar there was a lug entry of raseSl and' the auctioneer had a busy tin* in getting rough jus lMt A minute's listening t! tho bidding sufficed to' absolutely dl„d any idea of a fruiterers' ring. The b'ds were ir „ , im , c!ear aml c H / Prices ran up invariably to (ho limit the goods were worth and particularly was this the ease with all choice lines. In ho ace of tms it-would eer/ainly mm thafc the claim of the auctuMieers that no rinexisted amongst the fruiterers is fully „■„! ranted in accuracy. ■ -