A Great New Zealand Business

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 11 June 1924, Page 12 (Supplement)

A Great New Zealand Business

WONDERFUL RECORD OF EDMONDS BAKING POWDER

(By Our Special Representative)

i conducted through the office block, which is a separate .section m a separate, building. ;j Every modern appliance for Jabour- . saving has been installed, and liie ’ greatest care has been LuKen by the ■ architects to see mat me greatest amount of natural tight is secured. Separate offices are provided xor uie I mam executives, ami the manager s room contains some exceptionally lute . I pieces of New Zealand-made furniture. | The board room is impressive, with ns 1 i large dimensions and its huge boardj i ooiii table. , ] The new factory itself is some three, '.stones high, built on the latest pnn- ' tuples for securing me largest possible ; amount of natural light. The most modern machines for weighing and ' handling, are installed, and every thing ; . has been done to reduce duplication oi , efiort. Spotlessly clean, tire building j is a credit to the manager and members '! of the factory staff. , An interesting Jeature is the Jabora- ! tory, where all materials are must ' carefully tested and analysed, the ’greatest care being taken mat every ■1 ingredient is of the highest quality. I Both the office block and tue factory building are a credit to the architects, Messrs J. S. and M. J. Guthrie. 'Hie exteriors in every instance are of toned i brick, giving a most attractive appeurI ancc-. Ample space has been felt for fawns and gardens. These arc now in the course ol preparation, and when : completed, will be amongst the most j attractive, in New Zealand. I As some indication of the magnitude l of the firm’s operations, our representative was interested to bear that every year 2-1,800 cases are made on| the premises. Timber is cut at the mill to specifications, and turned into cases in the factory with up-to-date case-making machines. Over two million labels are primed in the Dominion, while this year two million tins will be j made iu the factory. Over 080 tons i of baking powder are sold every year, which means that 1-1,000 tons of carting , and handling inis to bo done by shipping companies and railways irom one I end of the Dominion to the other. To give an idea of what this moans, it | was mentioned that if one-ton motor j trucks were loaded up with raw material brought into the laetory, and also with the manufactured baking powder, they would form a procession five miles long, and would require appi oximately iB6O motor-lorries; while the tins used would cover an area : approximately one million square yards, i In addition to baking powder, Messrs Edmonds do an extensive business in custard powder. The old laetory is now! ; used for its production. The sale tor' j custard powder has increased recently j : beyond all expectations, and can be attributed to Ilie high quality of the line, and the fact that it costs less than imported brands. Throughout, the big factory all the machinery is run by electric motors, thus climinat- 1 ing smoke and dust associated with j tuel engines. ] ! When asked the reasons for the I extraordinary growth of the firm’s pro-] duc-t, the manager said that he aliribuicd this, first, io the iact that they have the highest quality fine lit the' work!, but lie must also give credit to the part that the newspapers played in the development o! the business. He mentioned that their entire advertising had been handled for many years by J. Holt, Ltd, the well-known firm of advertising agents, AYellington, Christchurch, Auckland, and Dunedin, and | with perfect satislaclion to themselves, i j 'The business was first placed with; J. Jlott.. Ltd., in 1911, and the output 1 was then i-fi.S.OUO tins per annum. The! tirm felt that they had reached thej maximum that could bo done in New; Zealand, hut, the resuhs of the first | campaign increased their output by i allot her 2o per cent. Since then .still; huger sums have been spent m news-* paper advertising each year, hut at ai progressively lower advertising cost per 1 tin] because of the steady increase oil output. 1 BUSINESS HISTORY. I 1 Our representative was interested to 'meet T. J. Edmonds, the luuuder of] the business, and ehaitman of directors: <■, the, company, ft is to Air Edmonds i ingeimuy and acumen that, the iounda-| lions were laid, which made ilie rise old litis splendid business possible. ] Asked for some iuiorinaiioii regarding i the growth of the linn, Air Edmonds said : j “On 26th September, 1879, T landed lilt Lyttelton on the ship \Y aitangi, after' a three months' voyage trout London. “Being a married man in my twentieth year, and realising my responsibilities. J. at oiu-e set about de,vising means to provide the necessary loat, and started my business career in a, .-mall grocer's shop, with a turnover of about C2< l per week. “Finding this was not a paying concern. J had to look round and find means to increase niy income. Aly : business in the grocery line brought I ' ,iii> in coni-if-i -.villi baking powder. I ami the idea m.pio to me that if I j r.,idd ma.infael me a satis!.tel ory art ielr of - L hi.s amt, there should be a lair side j

Knowing tliat Messrs T. J. Edmonds, Ltd., the proprietors of Edmonds Baking Powder, liad recently erected what ! is probably the most, modern baking powder factory in ilie world, a special representative of various New Zealand newspapers journeyed out to the new factory. ,The story of the growth and develop-1 mnet of Edmonds Baking Powder reads 1 like a.'romance, and it is safe to say j that no business in New Zealand has, built up such an extraordinary output in its own territory. The first year’s Output in 1879, was about 1000 tins; ten years ago, in 1911, 878,000 tins. were being sold per annum; last year the output reached over one and three- j quarter million tins; while this year it is confidently expected that the sales . in this Dominion wilt reach over, two million tins. When one remembers | that- -this represents an average con-, sumption of over seven and a-kaif tins | per . annum for every family in the Dominion, it must he recognised that no higher tribute can be given to the extraordinarily high quality and re-1 markable value ol the jtrouuct. | The newspaper man had a long chat with the manager of the linn, and was interested to hear that the new , factory has an output capacity of over: six million tins per annum. The re-1 porter asked why such a big output > eaapeity had : been . provided for, and was interested to hear that one of the biggest English firms selling to grocers and, storekeepers . had been making careful tests of Edmonds Baking Powder for a very considerable period, and had come to ilie conclusion that there, was nothing on the English market which could even compare with it. As a lesult, tliev had decided to take the line up, and" place it throughout England, as they were confident that huge sales could be expected in the Motherland. The linn will ship supplies hum the Dominion to its EnglisU selling organisation. . j The firm’s manager has just recently , returned from a trip round the wot id, and purchased samples of every brand of baking powder which lie could picture in Canada, United States, England and elsewhere. These were tested by expert chemists, in competition w ith Edmonds, with the result that the New ; Zealand product proved superior in ! every instance. lAdecd, lie lias come back Ju 11 v convinced that’ Edmonds “Sure to Else” is the finest baking-; powder in the world. ! The ; very, greatest care is taken to , maintain this high quality. During the war, regular supplies of cream of tartar were difficult to obtain, and Messrs Edmonds were urged to use cream of tartar substitutes by various manufacturers. Knowing how unsuitable were, these substitutes for a higli-grado product like “Sure to - Bise,” they! absolutely refused to use them, and rather than do so, decided that they would close the factory down when they were, short of the highest grade genuine cream of tartar. This course had to be pursued several times until regular supplies arrived, and these suspensions naturally gave the directois considerable anxiety. After-events, however, have definitely proved the wisdom of doing so, and have established the, fact that the maintenance of qualitv must be the first' considcration in building permanent business, j THE EFFECT OF THE NEW TARIFF 'As an instance showing bow legislation may affect the health of the people, it is interesting to note that the revised Tarili, which was introduced in December last, places a duty of 20 per cent, on cream of tartar, which'is not made within the Empire. This duty had evidently been imposed without due inquiry into the iacts. , Cream of tartar is not a British product, and there is no manufacturer m the British Empire able to supply ! sufficient, raw material of high quality to even keep Edmonds Baking Powder Factory going at normal pressure. After due consideration, the Minister of Customs removed the for a. period of twelve months. If it is again imposed alter this period, it wi.l eortainlv have the elleet oi nullifying -the efforts of this splendid New Zeu- , land business to extend its operations, I and supplv the overseas market. | Not only would T. .T. Edmonds. Ltd., be unable to seeurc sufiieiont supplies of British-made cream of tartar, but the additional cost, of the product would make, it. absolutely impossible for them to place “Sure to Rim” ~n the English market. It is eertamly to te hoped that nothing will be done to prevent Now Zealand building up trade for this high-quality lino in Croat : Britain. A TRIP THROUGH THE FACTORY. ’Accompanied by t!| e manager, our representative then went ilirough tb° great factory. First cf all he was

Two Million Tins Output per annum

“Previous to leaving London, I had spent some time in one of the largest confectioner’s businesses, that of Messrs Allen and Sons, and became acquainted with the use and mixing of powders telative to sherbet making. •‘Having decided to tackle the baking powder business, J. at once started operations, and one of the chief diificultics that I was confronted with w-as what name to give it. i FiOW “SURE TO RISE”-- ORIGIN- ‘ ATED, Recognising that a good name is an asset:, not oniy lo man, hut afso to an article, Jong deliberation was indulged m bolero uecidmg. One day a lady customer, when being persuaded by me to purcliuso a tin, complained that when using other brands, the scones were very fiat. I assured her that if she used my brand her scones would ho sure to rise. The name “Sure to Rise” inl me very forcibly, and Edmonds “Sure to Rise” it has been from that day forward. Aly first mixing of baking powder consisted ot about 200 tins, which found a reads' sale among my own customers, and as time went on the clients would take two or three tins each for friends. Business steadilyincreased. Encouraged by the testimonials and inquiries tor my baking powder, 1 decided to eonceiitrate my energy exclusively on the scientific blending uf tfio ingredients that go to make ray ■ Edmonds “Sure, to Rise’-’- baking powder. 1 was for three years or more studying the problem, during which time various other brands began to creep in. This gave me an impetus in my investigations ami enabled me to produce at the end of the period, the powder which lias become a Dominion favourite and known by one and all as Edmonds “Sure to Rise,” and also resulted in my working out a formula for egg powder, custard powder, and self-raising flour. On completion of the formula, J immediately approached the merchants regarding stocking “.Sure to Rise,” and succeeded in inducing .several of' them to place trial orders on their shelves. By this step J. considered that good fortune had turned my way, and that all I would have to do was to manufacture for the demand. Three months elapsed and no orders arrived from the merchants. .Wondering what could he the matter, 1 at once went to them, and was informed that they had never been asked for Edmonds “Sure to Rise.” Realising that it was not known on the market, it became necessary to create a demand. The method adopted was a personal canvass. It was my custom, if people whom .1 saw would not buy, to leave the powder with them without payment, on the understanding that il they did not like it, J. would take it back next visit. It is with a certain amount of pride that J look back on Lhose days ami remember that never one tin was returned, hut instead, they asked for more. Soon after this the business began to grow, and necessitated me putting al! my time and energy into the mamifaciitre of Edmonds “Sure to Rise.” .Inquiries began to come in Irom all parts of Canterbury, including orders irom the men fin ills, and k was from this point that the business began to assume dimensions which have since grown beyond all expectations. From 1879 to 1889 the output grew per annum steadily irom a. few hundred tins to 2UOOU. Emm 1889 to 1905 the output grew to 870,6(J0, and from 1906 to 193.5, 1.260,000 for the twelve months. It; was in Dll that I was first induced by All- J. Al. A. I 1011, of J. Jlott, Ltd., to authorise a campaign for newspaper advertising. In that year the increase in sales was more than double that aitaincd in any previous vear in the history of the business. '|i, was this fact that so sLrongly illustrated to mo the benefits ot advertising. when executed by capable hands, ami turned me into an ardent believer in advertising. AN lieu the output of “Sure to Rise” was selling 878.268 tins per annum, it was my linn belief that the. maximum had been reached, hut it lias gone ahead, and the annual output has grown to just on 2.U00.00U tins, and if Jocks as if regular increases uro going to bo made every year.” In these times of (alie of depression and falling business, it was very pleasant indeed for our i cpreseni alive _i o meet the principals of a colic,'*in which is still steadily going on increasing its business and output, and wliieh has realised the, fact, that there is still much business 1 o he g-,1 in hard times, but it is not going to he secured by Stopping off elfm-t and relinquishing push. It is fine lo think that this great business was esi s blished iu New Zealand, is operated bv New Zealanders, and irom llm original little factorv in Ch- -siel.iireli has ml the produel u ':' I e\en tua H become one ol the world s groai brands.