POINTS IN THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12904, 15 February 1906, Page 6

POINTS IN THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

A meeting of the local shareholders of British-New Zealand Meat and Produce Company was held in Napier a few days ago, for the purpose of ascertaining from, the companyV? London manager.. Mr H. F. Reece,. some particukus of the com-" pany's organisation ■ and operation: Be--sides giving information of this kind. Mr Eeece added the following reimirks which are of general interest.:—" : : \, When he first went Home Me did. not exactly know how or where business. After a jun round the counti'v VVnd due consideration, he came io the ictirielueion that it would not be wise:for Vttihipany 6f their strength to start in thV Midland counties, where the Argentine produce had a very strong hold indeed. A large section of the Midlands communities were hard-working factory operatives, who would not have fat meat.' and pinned their faith to the Argentine meat. Qualify was not so much a matter of consideration as plenty of lean meat for little lhonev. He had therefore decided not to start "in the Midlands, but to make Loudon the company's English headquarters. The people did not want te^-s—thcv wanted either lamb or mm ton. A»a:Vi anything over-fat could not find a. favourable market. In contracts it was invariably stipulat-ed that the purchasers should have the right of returning any surplus fat. There was no doubt at all that in the

early history of the trade Canterbury mutton was -better than Uorth 3»limd, because the growers there went in for producing the article required while those of such districts as Hawke's Bay confined their attention more particularly to wool. Xow, 1 the tables,were turning,... "Last season the Canterbury exportens-ihad' done themselves a great deal of harm by sending meat that was over-fat. Fensonally, he had sold prime Xorth Island meat at- a higher price than was obtainable for prime Canterbury. Theie was no reason whv Xorth Island growers should not obtain* :us good prices as those of Canterbury, if they sent the kind of meat that was wanted—good, nieatv sheep. The 501b or 601b -beep would bnug the best price in the London market, other things being equal. "Heavy sheep were not in favour with the London butcher; there was a far greater demand for small carcases than for big ones, irrespective of quality. It was true that bv keepmg sheep of the proper quality until tney became heavy, more nionev would be got for each carcase, and there would be additional profits from the wool; it was for producers to consider whether this would pay them better than exporting iguter carcases and getting about id rer lb more for the meat. One wav thev would certainly get more per sheep, but the other way thev would »er pound. " *^

March was too early for lambs on the London market, as the demand did not. start -till April. Australian lamb wo* iiqw a. keen competitor, that of X«w .Zealand in the Home market. .Australia had been sending really good lamb, and tlin,t..\ras one of the reasons for lamb not recovering its price last season. English people ■ were beginning to know- and like it. .-•...

'_ Mutton in which the merino strain predominated was not acceptable to the English public. v lt not onlv looked drv and Hard, but it tasted drv and hard; and bisSpecial request was that they should send as little of nierinp mutton 4o London as possible. He was/, quite aware that freshly killed merino mutton was first class eating, if.the Sheep had not been driven iijlong.way and harassed by dogs, but by the time it reached the London market it was. as he had said, dry, hard, and unsaleable.

( With regard to shipments to the West Coast ports of Great Britain, he thought they had been badly managed. Sometimes it was nearly thre-r'months before the meat leached Home, and it often happened then that a small consignment for, say Glasgowwould be sent by rail from London io save the vessel thp trouble of going to Glasgow herself."" He did not think that the high prices ob.ained some months ago—sd for mutton and 6d for lamb—would again be realised. Those prices had'been abnormal, and bad resulted in a great deal of harm to New Zealand: Other kinds of meat, much inferior in quality, had been sold as coming from this "colony, with the lesult that consumers had said, "If that New Zealand mutton, we want no more of it." Another effect of the bcom was to induce buyers in Ne.v Zealand to pay prices that were absurdly high. In his opinion, about 4d per lb for mutton, and 5d per lb for lamb should satisfy New Zealanders. If they got much beyond those figures, there would be trouble ahead for everybody concerned. There could be no doubt the consumption ■was- increasing: thousands of the British public who could not previously indulge regularly in' meat were bow able to do so. A great- quantity of Australian muUisn ~was sold in England, as New Zealand,-and it wiiß'Jsn practice'i very; difficult to stop. On one occasion he saw a row of lambs in abutcmWs shop with a notice to thci effee? that th'ey" were prime Canterbury. He wav curious enough to examine the tags, and found they werjr branded Victoria. Protional deceit, and had a vague idea that Victoria was somewhere in Canterbury. He did not. greatly object to New.Zealand mutton being sold at English, because it' redounded to the credit-of ibis colony's- product, tut it was quite a different, and far more serious matter, when inferior meat was prJnied oft as tha genuine New Ze.iW.d article;/. ■.- ■ -.--■}