MARRETING OF FRUIT.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1930, Page 8

MARRETING OF FRUIT.

The somewhat voluminous report of the Industries and Commerce Committee ot the House of .Representatives in reganl to the marketing of fruit is sure to cause considerable difference of opinion. The committee recognises, as has the unfortunate consumer for many years, that the difference in the price the lion beholder must pay for fruit and that wluca accrues to the grower is very wide, that there must be a margin to cover costs of handling and losses of so perishable a commodity goes without saying. J>ut when the retail price of. apples, ..for instance, is Cid per lb and the grower receives less than one-third of that amount it is time an effort was made to eliminate some of the expenses of distribution and so cheapen the cost of fruit to the householder. New Zealand is a country in which fruit ought to be cheap. Its dietetic value is stressed by medical- authorities 'throughout the dominion, but, on the other hand, its cost makes it practically a luxury in the average wage-earner’s home. The retailer, in turn, complains that at present he has no guarantee that fruit purchased will be up to standard and that as a matter of fact *it has often to be regraded at a. cost to himself.

The committee's* recommendations are the gradual introduction of standardisation °of fruit into certain grades and the improvement of marketing. It admits that there will be considerable difficulty in the way before these results can be obtained, and it proposes to commence with the standardisation of apples, pears, lemonds, onions and potatoes. The standards are to be adhered to by the retailer us well as by the grower, ami it is not proposed to interfere with the recognised commercial channels of marketing except by closer inspection. Market gardeners and fruit growers are to be registered and registration marks allotted for their produce. If the produce is not kept up to standard registration will be cancelled and the articles affected must be sold as unregistered and presumably, for what they will bring as fruit or vegetables of doubtful quality. It is admitted i that to enforce the proposed regulations will means an increase in the number of inspectors. What clieir qualifications will be remains to be seen. Taranaki has some-reeollectipn of a recent proposal to make a local meat inspector an inspector of fruit also though abattoir experience would scarcely seem the best training as an expert in fruit. In these days when the country is. demanding a reduction in costs of administration any proposal to increase file number of civil servants is sure to be viewed with seriousness. True, it is proposed to finance standardisation of fruit and vegetables by means of a levy upon the industry, but that must be passed on to the consumer, who always pays. It would be well before the committee’s proposals are transformed into legislation for some inquiry to be made as° to whether their adoption would enhance the consumer’s prospect of obtaining fruit or vegetables much cheaper than at present.