THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3993, 23 September 1930, Page 12

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

New Zealand owes a great debt to the pioneers wbo demonstrated that meat could be frozen and shipped to England, to he distributed and sold through the inland towns. Ideas on the subject of frozen meat have undergone a vast change since the first shipment from New Zealand left Port Chalmers in 1882. Nowadays, no question is raised in respect of the nutritive value and quality of the flesh of frozen meats. It has been demonstrated that refrigeration applied to meat when in a healthy condition preserves in a natural form all the constituents of fresh-killed meat, and, as a result, we find that the imports of frozen meat to foreign countries is regulated solely in the interests of agrarians in the importing countries. The trade has grown apace, but, unfortunately for us perhaps, we have not the London market to ourselves. While we pour meat during the season into England, other countries are likewise exploiting the Home market to the utmost, all of which is due, it may be remarked, to refrigeration, which permits of the preesnt-day great traffic in perishable products. Time brings changes, and ft is interesting to note that these will affect the meat trade in a manner which cannot be ignored. The big meat companies on the other side of the world are investigating the question of the application of rapid freezing to the retail marketing of meat. The

latest discoveries that have been made iff this process have apparently borne fruit. The process is applied to meat in the joint, and by this treatment it appears possible to send meat direct in its retail marketing form, from the freezing works to the butchers’ shops. Naturally, this has stirred up the meat retailer, who possibly visualises a change-over in his trade methods as not to his liking. Members of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, we understand, were, greatly impressed with the efficiency of the “quick-freez-ing ” method, and with the immense possibilities it presented. This can well be imagined, when the main part of the menu at luncheon in Wellington on August 27 comprised a sample case of meat, poultry, and vegetables shipped to New Zealand from America, via Great Britain.

When addressing the annual meeting of the board in the morning, the chairman (Mr David Jones, M.P.) said lie was convinced that the method opened up possibilities that New Zealand should watch with the closest attention. He had had the opportunity, when in America, of studying the unique process, and he had been very greatly impressed. The board, at the present time, was carrying out certain experiments concerned with the process in New Zealand. The “quick-freezing” process was developed in America in recent months. The principle upon which the new method is based is the use of a cold blast of air applied to small cuts and joints of meat, and can bo used for poultry, fruit, and vegetables. Prime cuts, roasts, arid chops can now be bought in America in light cardboard boxes, each of which contains “ a window ” of transparent paper.

“ Our policy is to supply meat free from dust, dirt, and flies, and free from the inquisitive fingers of customers and butchers,” stated Mr Frank Warton. chairman of the Hygrade Food Products Corporation of America, the originators of the scheme, when interviewed recently in London. “ Not only is the meat packed in boxes; each piece is examined by a Government inspector. The boxes are placed in glassfronted refrigerators, in which the same degree of temperature is maintained at all times, a feature hitherto unobtainable. The housewife can see the meat she buys, and also has the satisfaction of knowing that it is clean and uncontamhiated,” added Mr Warton. “That she- appreciates it is reflected in our sales. The consumption of meat in Great Britain would, I think, be materially increased if such methods were adopted.”

This new development of refrigeration has stirred the Home trade. Meat associations in Britain have rather excitedly discussed the possibilities underlying the new business. At a recent meeting of meat traders in Lancashire a member said there was the danger that if the butcher refused to handle it the firms behind the method would push it upon the provision side of their trade. The grocers already had taken much of the business that essentially belonged to the butcher—the sale of cooked meats, pork steaks, and sausages were examples —and now came the menace of big consumers being able to purchase meat direct from the provision sides of the big firms. It will be interesting to see how the new business will progress, as there is little doubt if it becomes a practical proposition, and the method is economical and

hygienic, that the old one will be scrapped. No traditional merit or method suffices to-day in any trade or business, as we live in a transitional age.