DEARER TEA

Patea Mail, 17 November 1939, Page 4

DEARER TEA

4:1 AND 6cl EXTRA CRO'-'KKV STOCKS SCARCE Not only have some important flasses of groceries disappeared from rola.il stores in Auckland or art? acntoli stain*o, loot vises in prices of inttny iincs Ivuo taken place, ami other advances are said to be pending. I'rider author'ly from tie* Trice TrlIv.tnal, grocers will lie advancing tea by 4d and dtl per !h * m-cording to the. praties. Tins autknrii-v applies to supplies pest lamted, and on v.hicn the imported ■" si las jumped through the ,v..;0 in. ! lit 1 Ceylon market, dearer freights and other Terns. The pnrfienlar shipment is lelativcly small. Imt it will not he kmg before Ike rise wili he opera!ing hi all shops, because tkev are almost bare of old stocks. TTiTXIC-t AND CORNTT.OUK The depreciation i» sterling against the dollar on the exemaugo market is chieflv tesponsiblc for it rise of Jd a pai'ket on flat, tornian seeded and seedless raisins, or of Id in hulk supplies. The importation of prunes is banned and, while praties are produced in the Dominion, the sweeter imported typo is chief!'/ favoured. Cheaper lines of imported prunes, ranging from 4d to (id per 11) have disappeared from many grocery s nips, lltc public is now paying lid per lb. lor higher grade imported prunes, but the slocks of those are very low. Stocks of dales, another common item of diet, have been cleared, it is stated, from 90 per cent, of Auckland growerv stores. This position Is another consequence of import icsliietinn, but small supplies arc expected at the end of the month. for t* c same reason as dates, stocks of cornflour have disappeared from most shops. It is said that powdered alum is now unpro( livable.

BAKING T’OWDKK DIFFICULT’/ Diilicutties in obtaining supplies of cream n! tartar :uul other acid ingredionts have also led to a problem iu obtaining supplies of baking powder. In recent weeks one large New Zealand manufacturer has been rationing supplies to amounts purchased in the same period last year and some shops have sold their current quota. It was stated recently by one manufacturer thiil the shortage mi this caco was not so much import rest r.ctrms as export restrictions Imposed by other countries, liven if they had been aide to obtain their import quota, the position would not have been so bad. They could obtain from Australia pnly the amount of cream of Ivlar purchased last year, 'while, since the Avar started, Brit a,in, whence tiiey had been purchasing' most of thotr supplies, had none to offer. The scarcity of cream of tartar and also bi-earbeiate of soda extends to the retail stores. (IKAVIi COXCLHX IX TRADE Except iu a few grocery -diops, it is impossible to obtain imported sweet coni, which is a verv pnpul iv item of diet with a good section of the public, Several sixes of tinned peas art alto off the shelves in Auckland g»o----cevy 1 stores, import iVAtricdons being rc'U.' I’sible. A short wop la»t. year has caused a sc.xrc-i! y of Xew Zealand Kuo teas. Tu several shops only cun shelled peanuts be obtained, but a small shipment, limited by restrictions, is expected very soon. The scarcity of matches through the shutting down on imports has reached a siili more acute stage. At least one large chain store organisation has 'cleared all its stocks, and some other stores are in the same position.. The public is on a bare ration, and in some shops the only matches are those contained on small paper folders. The grocery trade, both, wholesale ami retail, is naturally gravely perturbed at the stock position and at rising costs, which this week alone have afleidcd prices ‘of various commodities besides those mentioned.' “Wo arc concerned with our position when our quick-selling lines disappear, and we arc forced to depend on other classes of goods, ’’ said one man. f< Tn that situation it is obv'ions that our busin-. cses cannot exist, unless we raise prices on the slower selling ]ines. ,,