THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6344, 25 November 1898, Page 1

THE FROZEN MEAT TRADE.

INTERVIEW WITH MR W. WEDDEL. DEVELOPMENTS AND PROSPECTS. Mr W. ■ Weddel'. seriibij partner of the Lou don firm of W. Weddel? and Co., the well: known colonial producejLbrokdrs, is at present m Christchurch. :.'• In the course of a conversation, yesterday^, jiwith a . representative of- the "Lyttelton. Times" Mr Weddel explained -that he was npt in the colony on any special mission. It jwas two and a halt years since his last visit, and his object was mainly to intervie's. his varous clients and discuss with" theiu^the best, means of still further deyelpping^the. trade. ; ■_" Coming .to the^tr.^ itself,'' .said ■ Mr vVeddcl, "we are makihl' every attempt to t knock o~n ! tlie' head th&.|abuse of the term Canterbury meat? " Tal&-i for instance, the case "whefe; we disctoverefr that a man was •actually trading under |l»e name of ; The Canterbury Meat Compai^y, whereas he had in stock only; two or tlirge genuine carcases .of Canterbury meat, thii rest N being River Plajie.' ,It"is exceedingly difficult to counteract these 'misre-presenMtions/ahd.-n-.e can only hope to>do^sorby h'4yjng shops in the handset" trustworthy mejk-.who, when prdfessing to sell CanterbmySrneatj.will actuallv do soTV ■ • -. . ,4j '■■;■ :" : "Mow do you regar'djrthp proposal that the meat companies shal^.Qpen shops of their own in London ?" .■:■£ f< \ ■'^. • . " The scheme of sni?cisr< show shops we first piif before Sir VV^ftiy Perceval, and subsequently before Mr Reeves. The idea was that the shops would^not be opened as •a speculation, < but as ari v advertisement. Buyers could be certain that all meat sold there was genuine New Zealand. The dim*, culty then arose as to which province was to be advertised, and as far as the Government was concerned the scheme was not proceeded, with. In making any such move, the Christchurch- Meat Comjpany would not do so with the slightest idea of conflicting with existing concerns for distribution, but more with a view 'to help them by advertising tlia meat. Mr Reeves is very favourable to tlie idea, as directly tending to check unscruipulous dealers. If the Government had started' it, they would have had to take meat from Wellington, Canterbury, Otago and Auckland in order to please all districts " ;. ,;; •'. Questioned as to the improvement reported in Wellington meat, Mr Weddel said : " The improvement is general in the North Island.. I think they have been .looking to theii 1 breeds more carefully, including the Downs. Their feed is also not so rank, as, it was, and they are generally more careful; As to Canterbury, I think this province will shape more and more as a lamb-exporfcirtg coiihtiy! I think there will'be no. great- increase in the mutton shipments ; in fact during the last two or three years there has been 6nly a comparatively small increase in this direction. The lainb trade, however, has gone ahead by leaps and bounds, and become thoroughly well established at Home. I feel sure that if growers attend to quality, '.there will be a good market for a reasonable annual m-cr&as-e in the quantity exported ;' and this branch of the trade will pay growers handsomely. At the same time* it would be very foolish indeed of growers' to hofcj out for too exorbitant pikes. They , had,:, far , betfcGckeep oh supplying the wants of the Home buyers at reasonable prices, which will still yield them a handsome return." " What do you think of the prospects of the coming season?" " I think there will be a good market for lambs, at fair and reasonable prices." Questioned as to recent claims advanced by growers 'in the southern portion of this island, as to the quality of thgir meat, Mr Weddel said :— " As regards the statements which are so frequently made, that large -numbers- of Otago and Southland sheep and lambs are railed from those districts to Canterbury, to be exported from here as ' Canterbury ' mutton, and lamb, it strikes me that if these statements are even approximately correct, it is a severe reflection upon th(! business capacity of the people in the south. They ought.'with a little enterprise, to establish and maintain a first-class brand, provided they have the material with which to do so, and in this way be able' to freeze and ship all their mutton and lamb from their own ports." " What are your views with regard to the Australian lamb trade?" „; "As regards the export of lambs from Australia, there might be, in an exceptionally favourable year, a considerable quantity shipped; but the export this season will be'small, arid -will practically be over by the time the bulk of the New Zealand lambs get Home." "Will New Zealand be able to keep the lamb trade going all the year round?" ."Yes, providing that the largest shipments come in while the demand is greatest." Referring to last year's slump in the lamb trade, Mr Weddal said that the impression prevailed, in many commercial quarters in the colonies, that people would be starving at Home during the Jubilee time, and cable messages were sent, instructing agents to hold stocks tight for the Jubilee demand. When that supposed demand proved to be almost a fiasco, the number of lambs held in stock was very heavy, and the season was approaching an end. Further, 'comparatively heavy shipments had coine to hand in London during August and September of last year, and towards the end of the latter month, it was estimated that there were about 200,000 lambs in store in England. It had been found advisable to force sales somewhat by taking materially reduced prices, and there was no doubt that this policy, al--1 hough it might have resulted in small losses .i se directly interested in the stocks then • was distinctly the, best for the lamb trade as a whole. It haa not • only vi- ted the risk of a heavy quantify of stale lambs being held over into th^ new season, but. also, through the lambs being sold at somewhat low prices, it had tended to m- «" the consumption, and bring in some •;evr buyers. .That the policy, as a whole, was sound, was shown by the very healthy state the lamb trade had been in during the past twplve months. , Mr Weddel is not stronirly in {a ™™.™ the Government grading of meat ? VN >tn rocjud to Government supervision.' he said, " I fully approve of Government inspecting the anima'.s for health, but. beyond this J.tlo not think it ought to interfere with, the ordinary course of trade. It is much better U: leave it to private enterprise." "Do you think that grading is carried on satisfactorily at the present time ■ " Yes, and it lias, done a great deal to eslend the trade and make provision for the eawer working of the verv h"'g elv "H™?* 5 d shipments of recent years. It is possible, with the thorough and complete system ot grading now obtaining to fill the requirements of every buyer of any consequence. Tbat is to say. Where buyers want light sheep they can hive them.' and. similarly, buyers of fa! .nid heavy sheep can have their wants supplied." " Which classes of lamb anrt mutton are most-lv in demand at Home?" .. . , "The provinces, as a rule, take the lighter sorts, but- some coal' and iron districts take fair quantities of heavy, fat mutton. Wnere the population lar-eiy consists of millworkers, who are confined during the greater part of the day, fchev naturally have not .got the same taste for heavy, grea sv mu . tto "' but- prefei-the lighter and leaner varieties. With regard to the River Plate trade, Mr Weddel said:— ."The Argentine growers are every .yca r not only increasing the quantity of ttheir exports but also the qua hty. It therefore behoves New Zealanders to take full advantage of their exceptionally favoar "

able climate to keep their brands well in front as regards quality. There is not much fear of Argentine Shippers- — at any rate in the near future — competing with New Zealand in lamb, but-. unquestionably the conpetition will be keener and keener as regards mutton. "Of course tfie" Australian lamb trade has been completely thrown buck by the drought, jMr Weddel ?" ( "That is so.. The mutton season will also soon be over. There has been a lack of suitable tonnage in Australian ports this season." Asked if anything could be done to facilitate , distribution, Mr Weddel spoke decidedly on, the- .urgent necessity - for a sorting shed in London. He explained that a vessel arriving at the docks with a cargo of frozen meat was impeded in the discharge through the multiplicity of brands. " There may.be 800 different marks," he said, 1" in the cargo consigned to about ten or twelve salesmen, who mu3t have their buyers albngside the vessel as soon as, she' is docked. To sort out these 800 or so different brands and give- delivery to the several consignees is fometinieia ..^.'.prk of weeks. The sorting haste J&tfrtiip'to a great- extent'ih the ship's hold, and isj q/tedious work, involving the maximum of ,jiandliug and interminable, delay ."' A^ofeing shed into, which the cargo could be discharged promptly would oe a diEtmtit : It would reduce the mintbeV' of damaged carcases very materially; at any rate, one would have the, chance ""of ''being able to fix iipon the source of the mischief. At present, when meat is delivered from the store damaged you tackle the storekeeper, who stoutly declares it was delivered in a damaged condition from the ship. The shipowners say, 'We are not to blame; the . carcases were delivered soft to us in New Zealand,' so that you cannot, fix the bl&uie on the right persons. I maintain that the whole cargo should be delivered automatically . into a, sorting-shed, wnich could be done in about four days, instead ot four weeks', as is frequently case at present, and the different marks should then bi> sorted in the shed, where they could be examined to see whether they had suffered any damage on ship-board. The sortingshed would also tend to. lessen the cost ot delivery to the provinces, for the dock companies have agreed to deliver to the railway companies from the sorting'-slied, charging merely a quay rate, and will not insist on the meat passing through their permanent stores. This would greatly facilitate economical distribution to the provinces." Mr Weddel emphasized the .point that there never has been, and there is not now any intention of forcing through the sorting sbed single consignments;- On a suggestion being made that the sorting. shed would add to the charges, Mr Weddel said that he did not suppose it would exceed the trifling sum of l^c! per carcase, but the advantages far outweighed the cost. - "Has the assistance of the New Zealand Government been invoked?" "■ "Yes; and I am glad to say that your Government has promised to assist the movement in every way financially and otherwise, This new departure should effect a considerable saving to ship owners through the more prompt discharge' of their vessels, and a.< evidence of this all the ship owners engaged in the New Zealand trade are .willing. ,to_pa,v.. '•■^p"fdportiohate"Bum'''f6>rards"tiie*'erectio'n of a sorting shed,". Mr Weddel denied the existence of a Sinithfield "ring" in ( London, operating unfavourably to the New Zealand meat trade. In his own words " the ring is a myth." The esjport poultry trade, Mr Weddel thinks, ought to be developed, and he assured the interviewer that during the season good prices were obtainable which would leave a fair margin of profit to the poultry farmer. Mr Weddel will remain in Christ church during the'&iext few days, afterwards proceeding south on his tour.