TOMATOES SHOULD BE STANDARDISED FOR MARKETING PURPOSES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18787, 17 June 1929, Page 7

TOMATOES SHOULD BE STANDARDISED FOR MARKETING PURPOSES.

Urging that the marketing of tomatoes in Canterbury should be standardised by the growers, Mr W. Hyde, Government Horticulturist, who is at present visiting Christchurch, addressed members of the Christchurch Tomato and Stone Fruit Growers’ Association, with members of the Canterbury Fruitgrowers’ Association as visitors, on Saturday evening, on the subject of “ Marketing the Tomato Crop.” At the outset, Mr Hyde remarked that the tomato industry had a great future in Canterbury. At present the growers were facing many difficulties, which, however, were all in the way of business, and close attention was demanded by these problems. “ There is a great danger of drop-

,3. ping into a rule-of-thumb system of n marketing,” said the lecturer. “ For d one thing, the demand is constantly changing. Some products have done r well for a period, but have then falln en off in public demand merely be- -- cause the suppliers did not keep their v methods up-to-date. Conditions are t- ever changing, and growers must be n continually wide awake to keep pace s with the numerous developments in e the industry. I have met many marg keters who have been disappointed in the past season, which, in many respects, has been a variable one. Too often when things go wrong the growers have wasted money on revolutione ary schemes, instead of improving and y eliminating the defects of the old sysd tern. In what way can we, as growd ers, improve the present system of n marketing?” asked Mr Hyde. “A t great deal can be done, particularly d in regard to the standardisation of il packs. Some growers will have to sac.s rifice their pet ideas and practices, e but I feel sure that we have arrived at the time when this is absolutely o necessary. Consider the packs of toll matoes as they appear in the market, t They are all of different sizes, marks, t- descriptions. They are different in 1- maturity and quality. There is bad s fruit with the good. The trouble with a the whole thing is that the fruit is ■S averaged between the good and the 1 bad. Some growers hold the view 3 that so long as they put the best pro--13 duce on the market they will get the best price. The theory of the survival of the fittest, however, is a fallacy in this industry—it simply does not work out. The man who puts out the good pack does not always get the best price, while the grower who puts poor , produce on the market generally gets much more than his tomatoes are really worth.’* The idea of standardisation, said Mr l ' Hyde, was regarded with some fear by ** many people, but it must be viewed in the commonsense light demanded by 3 present-day problems. “You must do ’• the utmost you can to see that good h fruit is put on the market,” he urged. 3- “ Types should be narrowed down to [• those that are of good quality. Suiti- able types must be agreed upon by the )- growers—that is a recommendation I ” cannot too strognly make. _ Another d necessity at the present time is for unit formity in regard to descriptions of e their fruit. They must come to a com- ?, mon understanding in this matter.” >f With the standard packs and t3'pes, 1- said the speaker, much greater facility of marketing would be obtained, and >- the retail prices would compare more

favourably with the wholesale. Good j types would inevitably lead to a great- 1 er consumption by the public. The matter of marketing information, too, would have to be very thoroughlyworked out. The crop would have to be distributed according to the demand of the population. Each part of the population should be fed with a steady supply of the produce. The speaker said he feared that the present system was to alternately glut and starve the markets as the distributing area was changed. Growers should learn that the public w-ere not going to die merely because tomatoes became scarce. While they were plentiful, and therefore cheap, there would be a good demand, but once the produce went off the market consumers would adjust their diet accordingly-, and, as a result, some effort was required to re-establish the tomatoes in public demand. The lecturer suggested that a little judicious advertising would be very useful in furthering the market for tomatoes. In many cases it had been found that advertising had acquainted the public as to the availability of the fruit, and the demand had increased accordingly. This matter, too, would require careful consideration. “ The individuality of the grower will have to become a diminishing factor,” concluded Mr Hyde. “ While the industry was small, the individual was a very great factor in the market, but now that it has extended so widely, the in dividuality of the grower has lost itself, and this is a fact that must be recog nised by the growers.” He suggested that sub-committees should go carefully into the matters that he had mentioned, and report the result of their deliberations to the association. Mr Hyde answered many questions, and was accorded a vote of thanks for his interesting and instructive address.