FRUIT INDUSTRY

Southland Times, Issue 21101, 5 June 1930, Page 6

FRUIT INDUSTRY

LONDON MARKET

SMALL SIZE APPLES IN DEMAND

OBSERVATIONS OF MR E. C. REYNOLDS

(Per United Press Association.)

Dunedin, June 4

In an address on Jtis investigations into the fruit industry during a trip to England, Mr E. C. Reynolds informed delegates to the Otago Conference of the New Zealand Fruit Growers’ Federation this afternoon, that there was a strong demand at Home for small apples. Regarding sizes, the London market wanted a small apple. Some of the shops with a fashionable trade could do with the large size, but as a rule, buyers wanted the small size: He remembered one case where there was a large stack of one mark, but different sizes, and on it had been chalked, “all over 175 sold.” This made him inquire and he had been told that this was a frequent occurrence. The larger sizes had been left and unless the fashionable market was bare, the large size, though better fruit, would bring less money. When local fruit had come on the market, he had seen poorly grown, badly coloured English’ apples of about one inch for sale, and moreover selling in shops. Everywhere there was a ready market for small apples and if they were mature, though small, they would, sell readily. He could understand the Fruit Department not wishing these apples to be sent as New Zealand produce, but he thought that in view ' of the enormous waste which went on annually with this good, but small fruit, it should allow’ a trial to be made. It need not be labelled and branded with the ordinary labels and brands, but something entirely different, and in that way would not have a bad influence upon the standard labelled consignments. On occasions where the season had not been favourable to large growth, he had seen thousands upon thousands of cases of beautiful small apples rotting on the ground. As a rule he knew small apples were not favoured by New Zealand buyers, but in London and other large British towns, small apples were not only saleable, but brought better prices and such being the case, he did not see why shipments of these should be debarred, provided regulations were drafted whereby these small apples were not conspicuously marked New Zealand. The Ijondon broker and the retailer would buy them for what they were, irrespective of the mark.