DAIRY PRODUCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18065, 17 April 1933, Page 4

DAIRY PRODUCE

‘HEART-BREAKING PRICES’

WHAT IS THE REMEDY ?

The head of the provisions department of a largo British trading concern, writing privately to a correspondent in Wellington, remarked: — "The prices wo are returning for your produce must he heart-breaking; in luct, the whole business is unsatisfactory all round. The producer does not get a sufficient price to cover iiis expenses; the importer, owing to the lower values, is earning about halt the usual amount; tile retailer is grumbling because of the tremendous cutting that takes place, and the consumer does not seem to appreciate the wonderful value he is getting for fid, 9d and lOd per lb. •‘Wo would like to see an all-round advance, say, to 110 s. at which wo could sell at Is and retail at Is 2d. 'lhis would he a godsend to the producer, and everybody else concerned, and tho consumer would pay l.s 2d for good New Zealand butter, which is really only tho [»re-war price. The same applies to clioeso

‘‘Fortunately there is a big consumption of blitter, hut we think we have come to the saturation point. We cannot. live on butter alone, and if the price was reduced to 6d per lb. 1 cannot see that we could use any appreciably increased quantity. “In spite of the tariff of 15s foreign butter still comes in freely, and the Dane is not hit so hard as one would imagine at first sight; for instance, when you take into consideration freight, landing, insurance, discount, storage, commission and interest on New Zealand butter, it amounts roughly to 14s 2d per ewt. As Danish butter is bought f.0.b., it costs only about 2s 6d carriage and 2d insurance, with the duty making 17s fid You will therefore see that the tariff is more or less discounted by the in creased charges to bring New Zealand butter to this country.

"If Empiro production is going to in crease at the same rate, the only solution of tho difficulty would ho quotas, hut here again I understand that Australia and New Zealand are not prepared to agree to quotas, so tho future position is very difficult to foresee,"