ADVERTISING BUTTER AND CHEESE.

Southland Times, Issue 19396, 10 November 1924, Page 8

ADVERTISING BUTTER AND CHEESE.

To the Editor. Sir, —I would like to call the attention of my fellow producers to a recent cable item from London to the effect that Australian butter would be well advertised throughout Britain this season, as one large firm was distributing a well prepared booklet to the public per medium of 25,000 retailers. The object of this, of course, is to increase the demand for Australian butter throughout Britain. This action forcibly prompts the query—“ What is N.Z. doing in this matter of publicity; what are we doing to protect our interests?” This Dominion will export this season to Great Britain approximately 65,000 tons of butter and 65,000 tons of cheese, valued conservatively at £20,000,000. The Australian export is confined almost entirely to butter, in which she will send away perhaps two-thirds of our quantity. Yet we read that she is reaching out to the consumer in an advertising campaign while New Zealand has as yet developed no similar scheme. I desire to call the attention of producers to this matter, because in my opinion it is absolutely vital for the future success of our dairy industry that the marketing of our produce in Britain should have the assistance of a proper advertising campaign. We have known for years that we have suffered in our returns in comparison with the Danes, principally because our produce is not so well known as theirs. That loss has mounted of late years to as much as £BOO,OOO a season compared with their prices, and that sum can be saved only by improved marketing methods including advertising. At the present time there is in Britain a delegation from our Export Control Board. This delegation is investigating fully into the marketing methods and it will, I believe, return with a veritable wealth of information. I will be very much surprised if it does not return convinced of the need for strong action in publicity to protect and develop our Home markets. I think farmers as a whole are sufficiently progressive to back up the Board in any such action, particularly as the Board has already effected very great economies in insurance and shipping. Some farmers, however, may regard the spending of money in advertising as an expense, but upon such men I would like to urge the view that advertising is not only an economy but a definite money maker, because it has been proved time and again that judicious expenditure upon publicity repays its cost twenty times over. In the case of butter alone, we have an annual leeway of £BOO,OOO to make up compared with Denmark, and advertising is the quickest way of saving that sum. In the case of cheese advertising again will serve to increase the demand by opening wider markets to us, and will thereby stabilise prices. In the face of Australia’s action I feel sure that every fanner will support a definite allocation for publicity purposes. I am, etc., FRED WAITE. Waiwera South, Otago.