MANY ACTIVITIES

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21361, 2 June 1939, Page 16

MANY ACTIVITIES

LEVER AND UNILEVER World wide and varied are the interests of Lever Brothers and Unilever Ltd., as disclosed in the speech of the chairman of the company, Mr F. D’Arcy Cooper, at the annual meeting of the company held in London on May 5. The company has establishments in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, Siam, Ceylon, Turkey, and in almost every country on the Continent of Europe and in the United States and Canada. Its products, in addition to soaps, include oils and edible fats, bacon, poultry, cocoa, ice cream, rubber, canned fish, chemicals, paper, and textiles, and interests in wholesale and retail businesses. New Zealand as an exporting country will be particularly interested in the remarks of the chairman on an important branch of the company’s business, margarine, of which, it was said, “sales exceeded all records of any brand of margarine in any country.” Margarine Consumption It was added as to European consumption that “on the edible side, the year 1938 has been decidedly favourable. Whilst the consumption of butter and lard w’as maintained at approximately the same level, that of margarine was the highest since 1929. Per head of population the consumption amounted to 101 b, as compared with 131 b in 1929, but only 7.91 b in 1934. There is, therefore, still ample room for expansion before the peak figures of 1929 are reached. Our own sales of margarine were actually over 20.000 tons more than in the previous year.” Local Interests The joint companies own a number of factories both hi Australia and New Zealand; they comprise soap factories, margarine factories, oil mills, and coconut plantations. Except for the last-named, turnover and profits show a steadily upward tendency. In Australia sales of soap increased by over 3 per cent, and now constitute approximately 68 per cent of the total consumption. Sales of proprietary products in the food line increased, as also did the turnover of the oil mills. In New Zealand the soap factories turned out a record quantity in 1938 14 per cent in excess of the previous year. “Intentionally,” remarked the chairman, “I have given you more particulars than usual of the non-European business. This seems to me to be justified by the growing importance which continents other than Europe possess for our companies.”