BRITAIN’S BUTTER NEEDS

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1930, Page 10

BRITAIN’S BUTTER NEEDS

SURVEY OF THE SUPPLIES DOMINION’S GROWING MARKET. RECORDS OF 3000 RETAIL SHOPS. (From a London correspondent.) The demand for New Zealand and other Empire butter in Great Britain is the subject of a report just issued by the Empire Marketing Board. This report contains the results of a survey of nearly 3000 retail shops in 18 large cities of England, Scotland and Wales, covering a population of .12 millions, and includes London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol,. Cardiff, Glasgow, Edinburgh and other big centres. The object, states the "economic section of the Empire Marketing Board in a preface, is to provide information about retail demand, the extent of foreign competition, the trend'- of the market, etc., for the benefit of the producer overseas. The producer, armed with such knowledge, should then be in a stronger position to plan new market drives and to adapt production to market requirements. NEW ZEALAND’S RAPID RISE. The outstanding feature of the trade during the last few years has been the rise <3 New Zealand as a source of the United Kingdom’s butter imports, states the report. New/Zealand ranks {second in the list of countries from which the United Kingdom imports her butter. The first is, of course, Denmark,'which supplies 34 per cent, of the total imports; New Zealand .comes next Vith 20 per cent.; ’European countries, other than Denmark (Sweden, Finland, Holland, France, Ukraine, Siberia, etc,) just behind with 19 per cent.; then Australia with 12 per cent., the Irish Free State with 9 per cent., and Argentina with 5 per cent. Canada has now almost ceased to export butter to the United Kingdom, but a new Empire entry into the market is South Africa,-which has made a bhwinnine with 12,000 cwt. last year. ° The°Unitcd Kingdom’s butter imports in 1920 were no less than 2,250,000 cwt. above the pre-war average, and nearly half this rise.is.accounted for by imports from New Zealand. Altogether the overseas Empire supplies slightly under half of the total imports into the United Kingdom, which amounted, last year, to 6,500,000 cwt. If home production, which is estimated at about 750,000 cwt. is added, then Empire and foreign supplies are just about balanced. BUTTER BOUNDARIES. ■British housewives show marked preferences for different types of butter, and will often pay 2d or 3d a pound more for the type-they prefer. Housewives in the north, the south and the west of Great Britain have different tastes in butter. New Zealand butter, for instance, is particularly popular in the south. In London about half the retailers stock it, and it is found in about 90 per cent, of the branches of the big chain stores. But it has made little headway in the north, and the survey shows that fourfifths of the butter stocked in Yorkshire, Manchester and Scotland is of Danish origin. Liverpool and Birmingham show a particular ■ preference for New Zealand butter. On the other hand, Scotland is almost a blank area as far as New Zealand sales go, and might well repay special attention. Only 7 per cent, of the shops in Glasgow, for instance, stock it. ' An interesting fact brought to light is that most .or the New Zealand butter on sale iri these northern areas is found in branch shops of big national chain stores, which buy in bulk in London. These firms usually sell butter from two or three different countries and standardise stocks throughout their branches, • In the Yorkshire area and also in Edinburgh New Zealand- gutter was found in about 35 per cent, of the national chain stores branches and in less than 5 per cent, of the local priv-ately-owned shops. PORTS AND IMPORTS. The principal explanation of this geography of taste is that New Zealand and Australian butter arrives almost entirely at tho Port of London, European butter on'the north-east coast (Yorkshire and Durham), and Irish butter at Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff and other western ports. Round each port, or group of ports, the type of butter unloaded there predominates. The New Zealand product is sold mainly in the London area and the south. The north is still mainly the foreigner’s territory. Irish butter is found chiefly in the western districts, e.g., Liverpool, South Wales and Bristol, where it arrives. Other factors, such aS the well-known preference of the north-country purchaser for butter sold in “kiels,” or cask-shaped blocks, affect Ejnpite salesmanship. Danish butter is displayed in these kiels, whereas the New Zealand product is in box-shaped blocks. This fact is considered by some to be a definite selling point in favour of Danish and against New Zealand. Season, of course, affects sales. New Zealand butter is naturally found in the greatest quantities in January, February and March, when the biggest shipments arrive. Irish butter, on the other hand, is at its height from June to October. (Many retailers stock Irish butter in tho summer and switch ovyr to New Zealand in the winter. CHEAPER THAN DANISH. Two separate surveys of the 3000 shops were carried out in order to avoid confusion due to seasonal changes. The percentage of shops stocking New Zealand butter dropped from 35 per cent, in April-June to 28 per cent, in July-Sep-tember. ; rr 1 J As regards retail price, New Zealand butter was generally cheaper than Home or Danish, but slightly dearer than Irish or Australian. Wide variations, however, were noted. In the nor th—Manchester, Yorkshire and Scotland —the average price of New Zealand butter was Id lower than that of Danish. In Birmingham (the Midlands) it was Jd lower, in Liverpool slightly liicher, and in the southern area —Ixmdoii, Bristol and South Wales—New Zealand butter averaged a fraction of a penny higher than Danish. The prices ranged from Is 6d to 2s a pound. Durinrr the first survey (English spring) all prices were about one penny lower than in the English summer and autumn. “Racketed” butter (sold under pro-

prietary names and blonded) has a wide sale, particularly in dairies where it is often the only type in stock, and 58 different brands were encountered. Dairies, it was noted, rarely stock the NeW -Zealand article. Picketed butter iri more expensive than any other type except farm (homo) butter.