N.Z. PRODUCE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18898, 13 January 1927, Page 11

N.Z. PRODUCE.

MARKETING IN BRITAIN. WORK OF THE N.Z. PRODUCE ASSOCIATION. [THE PRESS Special Service] WELLINGTON', January .1.1. At present'in AYellington is .Mr 0. D. Mucfarkiiie, chairman of directors of the Now Zealand Produce Association, Ltd., of London,.who recently returned from (ireat Britain, and who to-day gave a Wellington reporter a. brief review of tlie activities of the 'Association. Mr Macfarlane said that the Association, which represented l'.l.'t co-operative butter and cheese factories in various parts of the Dominion, had been operating for between live and six years. It traded in London as the New Zealand .Produce Association, Ltd., and its operations were to some extent linked with the Co-operative Wholesale Society. So satisfactory had been its relations willi the Co-operative Wholesale Society that the Board of Directors of that body was sending a deputation to New Zealand to explore the possibilities of increasing supplies, not only of the main lines handled by the Association, but of other New Zealand primary products. The deputation, which comprised Sir Thomas. Allen, and Messrs .T. English and AV. T. Charters, directors of the C.W.S., was at I present iu Australia, and would arrive at "Wellington from Sydney on January 17th. Mr Maefurlaiic said he would join up with the deputation on their arrival, and accompany them on their tour of investigation through the North and South Islands, extending over six weeks. ■ .1 Dairy Control. When asked how the working of dairy produce control had affected the business of his Association, Mr Macfarlanc said that their allotment was based on tlic quantities handled by them for the three years prior to the Dairy Produce Control Board coming into operation. "Now that the. prices arc fixed, the C.W.S. would like to buy- the whole of their requirements from us, but our allotment is so restricted that we find that we have nothing like the quantities of dairy produce wanted to satisfy the C'.AV.S. and our other clients." Speaking generally, said Mr Macfarlane, the quality of New Zealand butter and cheese was improving, and buyers Ave re quite frankly admitting this. Some buyers, however, had complained that New' Zealand butler was overloaded with preservatives, but Mr Macfarlane explained that the cream neutralise* was the cause of all the trouble. TJics use of neutraliser had diminished dating the last year or two, but he felt that there was still •much rorhn for improvement in this respect. Most of the other butters sold in London were fro of neutraliser, and buyers were at once able to distinguish New Zealand butter from the others. A big advantage possessed by the New Zealand article wa* its good keeping qualities, which gave it a distinct "pull." Collecting of Cren,:u. Inferring to the dairying industry in the Domiuiou, -Mr Macfarlane said thai unfortunately there was still far too much overlapping in the collection ot cream. This seemed to have become accentuated in recent years, and while economies were being effected in many other directions, he thought that some efficient method should lie devised to obviate the overlapping in the interests of the producers themselves. Regarding the future. Mr Ma-far lane expressed the view that since the settlement of the coal strike better times were in store for the Old Country, and the demand for New Zealand primary products would improve. They would not reach the prices of recent years, in face of the increasing competition of Continental countries, but prices, he thought, would stabilise on a basis satisfactory'to the New Zealand producer.