ORANGES BOYCOTTED

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1934, Page 6

ORANGES BOYCOTTED

“ACTION LONG OVERDUE” TARANAKI FRUITERERS’ OPINION. LOSSES EQUAL FORTY PER CENT. “NOT DEPENDENT ON AUSTRALIA.” The decision of 200 Wellington fruiterers to boycott South Australian oranges on account of the excessive prices asked for the present class of orange was strongly supported by Taranaki fruiterers yesterday. The general opinion was that definite action was long overdue and that such steps should have been taken at the beginning of the season. Under existing conditions retailers were buying from hand to mouth and at New Plymouth only half of the usual monthly allotment had been disposed of, it was statefl* The retail trade had received little or no consideration in the past and tradesmen were “fed up,” said one fruiterer. The Government restricted the quantity of oranges to enter the country, while on the other hand the wholesaler demanded his own price, a price that was far in excess of the true value of the fruit supplied. The retailer was unable to secure fresh oranges as they landed in the Dominion as the distributors insisted that all previous shipments should be disposed of before the new shipment was placed on the market. The result was that the retailer was compelled to handle an inferior orange that had suffered deterioration as the result of a period of cold storage. “We are buying from hand to mouth,” said a New Plymouth fruiterer. “The monthly allotment for New Plymouth is 200 cases, ’but as a rule that is not sufficient to fulfill the demand and further orders are executed during the month. The loss on oranges is very heavy; in fact it is no longer a question of how much is to be made but a question of what is the loss going to be. The oranges are decidedly inferior and lack body. The initial loss on opening a case is about 20/ per cent. Deterioration is experienced'every day and the final loss is about 40 per cent. We cannot afford to carry on business on the present terms. It is unfair to both the retailer and the customer. It is to be hoped that every fruiterer in the Dominion will support the Wellington tradesmen in the stand for fair trading.” There was little likelihood of their being a shortage of oranges during the Christmas period as the Jamaica shipments would be coming to hand and the trade would not be dependent on South Australia for its supply, a News reporter was informed.

REPLY FROM GROWERS DENIAL OF ANY SHORTAGE. QUALITY UNDER COOLING. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. “If I could make known to the public all that is taking place I feel sure they would appreciate that what is being done is in the best interests of the consuming public as well as of the whole of the trade, including retailers,” said Mr. C. N. S. Mueller, New Zealand representative of the Murray Citrus Growers’ Co-operative Association of Australia, Ltd., when commenting on the boycott of Australian oranges by Wellington fruiterers on the grounds of. poorness of quality and excessiveness of price. “The position that had been, taken up is that the retailers must have the fruit as it lands and let any .surplus from previous consignments continue to deteriorate,” continue 1 Mr. Mueller. “If Mr. Hatch and his associates conduct their business in this manner it is no wonder they . talk of their losses, but I cannot countenance .such procedure. As the fruit arrives from Australia and America in cool storage it is only exhibiting ignorance to state that our fruit deteriorates because it is held in New Zealand for two weeks in cool store. The fruit we send to England remains in the cooler for two months, and your New Zealand apples ar held here for months with no detrimental effect. “My growers were under the impression that they were shipping what was required rather than something objectionable. During the season I have consistently made good retailers’ legitimate losses. I have not permitted variation in the price, and the market has never been without oranges. What the retailer really wants is difficult to understand. What I do know is that on present prices marked up in the shop windows the retailer is getting more in two weeks for a case of oranges than the grower gets in 12 months, but I have no quarrel with that position as I know, that the costs of retailing are high. . “With reference to the statement alleged to have been made by the secretary of the retailers at Dunedin, that oranges were very scarce on the Dunedin market, I have his personal assurance that the statement was not made by him, and if anyone wants 1000 cases of oranges at Dunedin I can supply them from stocks, and to a very large extent the same applies in every port from Dunedin to Aucklandt So the alleged shortage is all moonshine.”