PAST SUCCESSFUL YEAR OF THE N.Z. CO-OPERATIVE PIG MARKETING ASSN. WAS A BENEFIT TO MANY PRODUCERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 75, 28 July 1950, Page 5

PAST SUCCESSFUL YEAR OF THE N.Z. CO-OPERATIVE PIG MARKETING ASSN. WAS A BENEFIT TO MANY PRODUCERS

(Special to Beacon)

Turnover, including that of its subsidiary Bacon Companies, reached a new record figure of £2 h million.

■ Mr Phillips revealed that pig killings were held at 104,132, or last year’s level, an excellent result having regard to the drastic drought conditions which had affected many areas as well as the continuing change over to dried milk and town supply. All pigs were again handled on consignment thus endorsing the co-operative policy upon which the / P.M.A' was founded and has since adhered to. Record Bobby Calves "Altogether 78 Bobby Calf Pools , entrusted the marketing of their products and the administration of their affairs to your Association,” Mr Phillips said. “The number of calves handled proved another re- ; cord, collections amounting to 424,828, an increase of 23,700 on the previous year. Turnover in this department totalled £540,323.” “Handling as it does approximately 40 per cent of the total calves killed in New Zealand, the P.M.A. is able to bargain effectively with

the killing of calves and thus obtain the highest net return possible for producers, thus automatically benefiting all other producers whose calves are not marketed co-opera-tively.” Continuing, the chairman said that 12,690 head of cattle were handled during the year, an increase of 736 compared with the previous season. Summarising operations in pigs, bobby calves and cattle total collections were just over 541,000 head with an aggregate hooks weight of over 31£ million pounds. Year by year steady progress has been made and it was pleasing to see the confidence and faith of | those producers, justified, who, 18 years ago pioneered and established their own co-operative marketing organisation. They had reached a stage today where an ever increasing proportion of the meat and dairy products of the farmers of New Zealand was being handled through their own co-operative marketing organisations. Mr .Phillips said" that the Trading Department still continued to offer good service to P.M.A. suppliers and showed a further increase in overall sales for the year. Turnover amounted to £20,832 compared with £18,789 the previous year. Sales of grass seed again showed a substantial increase and it was gratifying to see the tributes paid by a great many suppliers to the excellent quality of the seed supplied. j

Income and Expenditure “Total value of sales of pork, beef, veal, skins, hides and offal, together with the estimated realisations of stocks on hand at May 31 in freezer, New Zealand amounted to £1,416,405,” said the Chairman. “Slaughtering and freezing charges, collecting costs, insurances and administration expenses for the year absorbed £164,766, while Directors’ honoraria amounted to £SOO leaving a gross excess of income totalling £1,251,139.” V “Payments already made for U bobby calves, cattle and pigs came to £1,173,413, which left a surplus of £77,726,” continued Mr Phillips. “Under the Articles of Association the Directors have set aside an appropriation of id per lb on all pigs supplied on consignment for crediting to suppliers’ share accounts. This amounted to £14,637, and after transferring £IO,OOO to General Reserve there was left a net surplus of £53,089 for cash distribution to suppliers.”

Bacon Companies .Reference was made by the Chairman to the development of the Association’s ’’Kiwi” bacon factories at Palmerston North, Auckland and Christchurch, which today were by far the largest in New Zealand. Total turnover for the past 12 months amounted to £1,025,220 representing over 25 per cent of the total Dominion consumption. Total baconer pigs cured were ' 75,000 while sausages and smallgoods sold weighed four million pounds or 1,900 tons. “With the successive fall in pig production during the last eight years and the large increase in the consumption of bacon in New Zealand compared with pre-war years,” said Mr Phillips, “we have reached the stage where over 80 per cent of last year’s baconer pigs were required for Dominion consumption.

AUCKLAND, yesterday. “The year ended May 31, 1950, concluded the eighteenth year of operations of the P.M.A. on a national basis and it is felt that you, as shareholders and supporters can be proud of the results achieved by the Company in its co-operative marketing on behalf of primary producers,” said Mr W. A. Phillips, Chairman of Directors of the New Zealand Co-operative Pig Marketing Association Limited, at the annual meeting held in Auckland today. Over 350 shareholder-delegates from all parts of New Zealand attended the meeting.

It will be appreciated, therefore, how vital it was for the P.M.A. as a co-operative marketing organisation to have under its control the three successful bacon .factories as a direct outlet for bacon pigs, particularly in recent years when the Company had secured returns in excess of prices available for export channels. The greatest obstacle to increased turnover through its bacon factoi'ies,” said Mr Phillips, “was still the overfat and overweight baconers received from its suppliers.” Reference was made by the chairman to the P.M.A.’s connection with the Associated Farm Products Cooperative Distributing Companies. “It is not necessary to re-iterate here the benefits, which have accrued to the producer by effectively controlling his products from the farm to the retail market and it is sincerely hoped that these Companies will flourish and their influence spread,” he said. Last year these nine associate cooperatives had a combined turnover of over 3 \ million and returned over £60,000 to their producer shareholders in net savings in the wholesale distribution of their own manufactured products.”