Possible Rise In Retail Meat Prices

Chronicle (Levin), 7 August 1948, Page 5

Possible Rise In Retail Meat Prices

The family joint is nxeiy to cost mbre if the very high ruling prices tutchers are called upon to pay for fat stock-mean an-ything to the -Price . Tribunal. There. is an. acute short- ; age of mutton and the whole countryside is being combed by operators in an effort to satisfy the day-to-day consumption. of fresh meat. Auckland buyers were operating at , 1 the Feilding sale yesterday when first quality wether 'mutton sold at 'just ,3d short of last week's record price of £3 12s Id. Towards the end of June wether mutton sold from 50s lOd to fis lOd and with the price for prime sorts now 70s and threateni-ng to advance to '80s;: the. . cbnsumer must be prepared to face up to a rise. The retaii price fixed for the past v/inter period has little real relation to the ; wholesale price, . and quite obviously the situation. is well out of balance to the disadvantag,e of the retaii butcher who is striving to supply. his ciistomers with the first cualitv meat they requi're. Yesterday retaii butchers faced rather active competition from outride operators commissioned to secure supplies of mutton. The demand was particularly keen, and opinions suggest that it will continue to be strong imtil early summer.