PRICE OF TALLOW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26781, 26 May 1948, Page 4

PRICE OF TALLOW

INCREASE ADVOCATED RECOVERIES BY BUTCHERS AID FOR BRITAIN SCHEME After conducting an investigation into the availability and disposal of tallow and fat in New Zealand, the Fat Collection Sub-committee of the Dunedin Aid for Britain Committee has reached the conclusion that the only way in which more fat can be made available for shipment to the United Kingdom is for .the price of tallow sold by butchers to the export department of the Marketing Division to be increased to correspond with that which butchers are able to obtain by selling the fat over the counter in the form of fat on meat or as dripping. A report to this effect was made to the committee last night by Mr F. Binney, the convener of the sub-committee. The committee decided to recommend to the National Council for Aid for Britain that steps be taken to bring the price of fat sold by butchers to the export department of the Marketing Division in line with that of fat sold jo domestic consumers. The committee also decided to recommend to the National Council that, in view of the world shortage of fat, wh'ich was likely to continue until at least 1950, measures be taken to make all fat not needed for immediate essentials in New Zealand available for export to the United Kingdom.

Mr Binney, in presenting his report, said that the sub-committee had decided that it was preferable that further saving should be made in bulk by butchers rather than by housein small lots. He quoted statistics showing that there was a large drop in the export of tallow in spite of an increase in the .killings in New Zealand in the past few years. The average export in 1945 was 4.411 b of tallow for every head of stock killed, compared with 3.361 b in 1947. Mr Binney added thgt the freezing works saved their tallow, and the statistics showed that there was lesskilling on farms. The inference was* that it was only from the butchers that more tallow could be obtained. Mr Binney added that butchers. were now distributing more fat by their retail sales of meat, as dripping, and in a form suitable for inclusion in parcels for posting overseas. He added that butchers received £4O a ton for tallow sold to the Export Department of the Marketing Division, but they sold it for £56 a ton as dripping and for £SB a ton in container? for overseas parcels. He claimed that' butchers would therefore endeavour to sell locally as much tallow as possible The only method of obtaining more fat *for overseas was by bringing the price of fat supplied by butchers for export purposes to the same level a? that they would obtain by selling it over the counter.

•Mr Binney added that the statistics showed that in 1945 the United Kingdom received only about half the. tallow exported from New Zealand, the remainder having been used to pay for goods purchased in other countries. He said that no incentive was given to dealers by way of a satisfactory margin of profit, to bring fat in from the country. V