THE BREAKFAST TABLE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20056, 20 September 1920, Page 7

THE BREAKFAST TABLE.

NEWS FROM THE SHOPS. RISING PRICE LIST. HAM, BACON AND FISH. Prices for ham, bacon and fish showed a rise this ..morning. In general grocery lines there was little change. Bacon and ham have gone up by another penny a pound, the second increase within two weeks. Best rashers of bacon will now cost about 2s 2d a pound, and cuts up to Is lOd. The wholesale l price of ham is Is 9d a lb instead of Is Bd. ‘‘Tbo rise is taid to be due to the dearer price of pigs,” remarked a grocer. “ I believe the right reason is the approach of the Christmas season. The demand is expected to grow. 1 ’ . Pish are very scarce. A small consignment of groper came into Christchurch from Kaikoura on Friday. It brought lljd a pound in the rough, aud retailed at Is 6d cut up and Is 8d in the piece. The ordinary retail price is lOd. Groper loses about 33 | per cent in the cutting up, hence the difference between the wholesale and the retail price. Flounder is how IQJd a lb wholesale, and Is a lb retail. Very little came from Port Chalmers last week, owing to bad weather. , Crayfish are selling at 2s each, largest size,, weighing about 41 lbs. Whitebait are not plentiful though prospects are good. To-day’s rate is 7s a pound, retail. The meat market has firmed hut retail prices stay at a low level. In a leading city butcher shop this morning best legs of mutton were quoted at 9d a pound. This time last year the price was Is. Forequarters of wether mutton are listed at 6-ld a pound. Other quotations arcßeef steak, lOd a pound; best _ rump steak, Is Id ; sausages, sd; loin chops. lOd, and rib chops, Bd. Cheese is expected to go up to Is 6d a pound retail. Wholesale quotations at present set it down at Is 2id to Is 3d for the grocery trade. Loss of weight while in store is a serious factor for merchants. Speculation about the now price for butter continues. \Giving evidence before the Parliamentary Committee last week. Mr D. Haberfield, president of the Christchurch Retail Grocers’ Association, said that in 1914 butter cost grocers Is Id a lb, and was retailed at Is 3d; in 1916 the price was fixed at Is 8d retail, and the cost to the grocers was Is 6d; and in June, 1920, the price was altered to Is 9d retail, and tho cost to the grocer was Is 7d. That meant that the profit had remained at 2d, whereas costs had gone up tremendously; wages, for assistants, for instance, had gone up 75 per cent since 1914. He considered that if tho cost to grocers went up to 2s 6d a lb they should be allowed to charge 4d extra for cash and 5d booked or delivered. Butter, ho added, made up a seventh of the grocer’s turnover. Butter prices to consumers in various parts of the Empire are:—England, imported, 3s per lb; home-made (summer), 4s 6d; Canada, 3s; Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland and isow South Wales, 2s lOd; New Zealand, Is 9d. The greater value of butter-fat is certain to have an effect on the price of milk in Christchurch during the summer months. In some quarters it Is suggested that the present retail rate, 7d a quart, fixed for a period! when feed isi scarce, will continue. A nint. of a possible reduction, however, is given in -a brief report of negotiations between the wholesalers and the retailers. Effects of the sugar shortage are becoming moro widely felt. Several grocers say that there has been a distinct drop in the demand for articles used in puddings and cakes, particularly baking powder and dried fruits. Pastry- ! cooks arp suffering serious loss, and ! the confectionery works aro still idle. Tho end of the strike at tho company's works in Auckland encourages the hope that a shipment of white sugar iv.il! come south before the end of the month. The raw sugar that arrived in Christchurch last week did not go very far. “I got enough to give my customers one or two pounds each,” said a leading retailer. “ It was excellent in quality, and good enough for the table. 'There is no word about tho next cargo.” As a result of the sugar strike, stocks of golden syrup aro exhausted. There has been iln increasing demand for jam, which is, fortunately, in fairly large supply. “The Christmas plum pudding is going to be very dear this year,” predicted a groper. “ Prices for seeded raisins have jumped in recent months from Is 3d a pound to Is 10d; sultanas are up to Is 4d ; sugar is 6sd instead of 3(d; eggs aro 2s a dozen.” “Prices have a heavy bearing on hospitality,” says a North Island correspondent. “ The future is big with the possibilities of curtailed entertainment. You can picture the hostess at the tea _ table doing a little mental arithmetic. For instance, she calculates tliat of butter per head, not an excessive allowance at a meal, at 3s a pound, comes to 3gd ; a portion of tinned salmon may work out at 3-id, Joz of tea at 3s to 9-16ths of a. nenny, 2oa of cako 2d (according to richness), two slices of bread, say Id, onc-oighth of a pint of milk id; allow for propertion of fuel, sugar condiments, and the. total per bead is somewhere about Is.” The latest cabled nows from London says that, owing to the continued rise in food prices the average working class family’s weekly budget will be 9s 6d moro at Christmas than at Christmas 1919.

*Thc new retail prices i'or bacon and ham arc not generally in operation. The _ (rates v/ill vary according to quality. Aulsebrook and Co. expect to resume operations in at least half their manufacturing works before the end of this week. _ Arrangements have been made to bring a consignment of sugar from Auckland to Wellington by rail.

Tlie Moana left Sydney for Wellington on September 17 with sixty-one bags for Christchurch. The Westralia. left Melbourne for Wellington on September 17 with fourteen bags for Christchurch. An amendment of the Christchurch Tramways Bill has been made in committee, bringing it into line with sections 6 and 42 of Hie Municipal Corporations Act, relating to the- election of members on the same franchise as that which applies to city and borough councils. The Prime Minister, in a letter to the Town Clork, states that it only remains for the House to pass the amendment. The Her J. H. Rogers, vicar of St Stephen's. Shirley, has effected an exchange of parishes with the Rev M. r riborg, vicar of St Martin’s, NorthEast Valley, Dunedin. The exchange will take place as from November 15 next. Mr Rogers has been in charge of the.Shirley parish for about a roar.

PRODUCE. Tho latest dairy produce rates are:— Wholesale. Ketnil. s. d. r. d. Factory Ira tier . . 1 7 19 Separator butter • IS 17 Dairy butter .15 17 Honey, extracted (lb) • 09 10 Honey, sections (< ach) .10 1 S Eggs, per dozen .10 2 0 “Bacon, rolls . 1 0 “Bacon, sides .17 - ■“Ham. rolls . . 1 91 — “Ham, sidca .10“ -