FOREIGNERS BEATEN ON HOME MARKET

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 257, 8 October 1931, Page 8

FOREIGNERS BEATEN ON HOME MARKET

FUTURE OF N.Z. CHEESE SOVIET BUTTER DUMPS PILING UP The question of Empire trading continues to command widespread attention throughout, the British Press. This is accentuated rather than overshadowed by the political and economic situation, since there is a growing realisation that the Old Country's industrial debacle is due in considerable measure to the diminished purchasing powers of the Dominions. Slowly, but nevertheless surely, Empire trading is getting on to a sound economic tooting, and the sentimental factor, which hitherto has tended to tie up the whole problem with one political party, is outwardly receding, although it remains a powerful stimulus among the better-to-do consumers. - Soviet Five-Year Plan Both the newspapers and the public are fully alive to the menace of the Soviet Five-Year Plan, particularly as it affects the prospects of British agriculture. Every fresh shipment of Russian butter landed in the Pool of London serves as an added reminder to the housewife that this class of but- , tor is largely used for blending purposes, and that the only way she can j be sure of excluding it from her pur- j chases is by insisting that the butter j she buys shall be of guaranteed Eng- ; lish or Empire origin. I That this attitude is having the desired effect is evidenced by the weekly statistics issued by the Empire Mar- j keting Board. These show that the Soviet butter invasion has received at least a temporary check and the view I of the Empire Dairy Council is that ! the Russian dream of staging a "come- , back" on the British market, this season has been shattered. Tell-Tale Figures Of the 20,000 tons of butter, valued ! at over £2,000,000 which it was conn- ■ dently forecast would he Russia's contribution this year, only 7300 tons reached England in the first seven | months. Moreover, the Empire Mar- j keting Board figures reveal that as a j result of the public outcry against its | sale in this country, Soviet butter is now rapidly piling up in cold storage, and some fear is expressed that big | efforts will be made to dispose of it at j "bargain basement" prices. Thus ; housewives are being urged during the I next few weeks to take particular care j to see that any butter they buy is | plainly labelled to show its origin. I Empire Progress

The onward march of New Zealand butter is admirably demonstrated by the Board of Trade returns, which show that butter imports from all sources during the first seven months of 1931 totalled 4,794,541c\vt —an increase of (144,071 cwt on the corresponding period last year. Of this increase, 520,000 cwt came from the Empire—mainly New Zealand and Australia.

The other side cf the picture is that unfortunately the value of butter imports decreased by no less than £1,748,791. Roughly speaKing, uie Empire producers received the same figure as last year, namely £13,000,,000, although they sent half a million hundredweights more butter. The explanation, of course, is that just at the time when the magnificent post-war efforts of the British Empire to increase production are maturing, foreign dairying industries are frantically endeavouring to retain the market. But as Sir William Waylaid, M.P., the chairman of the Empire Dairy Council, recently remarked, "The Empire is now leading in a neck and neck race, and it is clear that the Old Country, backed up by New Zealand and Australia, can guarantee an increasing supply of butter all the year round. Richer Cheese From New Zealand On all hands it is' recognised that the action of the New Zealand Dairy Produce Board in recommending the abandonment of the name "New Zealand Cheddar" in connection with standard cheese was an astute and far-see-ing move, since it has, in a single stroke, reconciled the retail trade (which' was distinctly hostile), stimulated the movement towards Home and Empire co-operation, and stirred the goodwill of the public. One effect of the decision, of which the London management of the board has been quick to remind the public, is to assure to Ci 3 British market a steadily expanding supply of the richest whole milk cheese in the world. Local Authorities "Buy Empire" As a result of the campaign launched by the Empire Marketing Board 12 months ago to encourage local authorities to buy Home or Empire commodities in preference to foreign commodities, hundreds of county councils, borough councils, and other public institutions throughout Great Britain are amending their tender forms so as to specify that goods purchased shall be "Empire" whenever possible. One local authority, for example, has announced its intention of purchasing 23,5001 b of New Zealand butter in place of the Danish butter for'' merly supplied to it. The New Zealand Board has, it: is understood, already made representations to the London County Council regarding the substitution of butter for margarine in the dieting of thousands of children resident in schools which were until recently under the control of the Poor Law authorities.