EGG LUNCHEON

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 18, 22 January 1924, Page 7

EGG LUNCHEON

BEGINNING A NEW TRADE

SIR J. ALLEN ENTERTAINS

IMPORTERS

MR MASSEY ON CO-OPERATION.

(F»OM ODK OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, 13th December.

It was a useful and happy idea to mark by a public luncheon the inauguration of the egg export trade' from New Zealand. This was arranged by Sir James Allen, conjanction with Mr. J. B Merrett, and the guests included Mr. Massey, principals of produce and distributing firms which had handled the recent shipments of New Zealand eggs, and other members of representative dairy produce firms. Among the guests were Major J. Salmon (Managing Director of Messrs. Lyons and Co.), Mr. M. Salmon, Mr. C. J. Cowan (New Zealand Shipping Co.); Mr. A. J. Potter (Shaw, Savill and Albion Co.), Mr. J. Gillanders, Mr. A. J. Mills, Mr. G. Huskisson (Director of Messrs. H. A. Lane and Co.), Mr. C. Laing, -Mr. R. S. Forsyth, and Mr. Alexander Crabb. Some thirty-five in all were presents The luncheon was held in Hotel Cecil, and the chef had received some special instructions regarding the use of New Zealand eggs, with the result that the guests were able to sample them in several forms. They appeared in a very palatable little dish in the hors d'oeuvre. The sauce with the fish was made from the eggs, and curried eggs formecl another very excellent dish. At a side table there were exhibited cakes, shortcakes, and macaroons, made with pbw-, dered white of New Zealand eggs, and with flake from the yolk of New Zealand eggs. Those who sampled these were well satisfied with their quality. Sir James Allen welcomed the guests to a luncheon which, he said, celebrated a unique -undertaking by the Dominion. , He called upon Mr. Massey to say something as to the future possibilities of the export of eggs, and upon Major Salmon and Mr. Huskisson who I%i done much to encourage this new industry., , .

A SPLENDID TESTIMONY.

Mr. Massey confessed that he was not an authority on the subject of the industry, but hf took an interest in ■©verything which was for the benefit of New1 Zealand, and he took an interest in egg producing. \ He could not say anything as to the possibility of sending Mew Zealand eggs to London under such conditions as to enable them to compete successfully with the Home article, but experiments had been made. Two shipments had arrived in England i comprising about a million eggs. They had landed in go<jd condition, with very fdw breakages, and he had been informed that in one of the shipments of half a million there had been only two broken eggs. Their condition was so sound that there was not a single stale egg in the million landed on these shores. That was a splendid testimony of the possibility of sending eggs to this country. If it was possible to send a million in a few weeks, it would be possible to send a very much larger quantity in the years to come. • The fact that the seasons in the two countries were directly opposite in time enabled them to supply England at a time when eggs were most needed. He wasr right in saying that New Zealand could supply a great many of the eggs required for culinary purposes in this country. There were approximately 4,000,000 head of poultry in New Zealand kept by 143,119 people. The total value of the products from poultry was about £2,000,000 annually. The work was looked after by the Department of Agriculture, and the Government had poultry experts who instructed the farmers and poultrymen in production by means of personal interviews, publications, lectures, and demonstrations. In New Zealand they'had poultry shows and egglaying competitions which encouraged selection and breeding of best laying birds, and they possessed a large number of birds tbat had averaged 300 eggs a year. New Zealand was the only country in the world that did not allow the import of eggs while it produced sufficient eggs for its own requirements. They had had complaints from pastry cooks that a proportion of imported eggs were bad, co they decided to prohibit their importation while there was a sufficient quantity produced in the Dominion itself. Purchasers and users of the eggs in London had expressed their high opinion of the quality of the eggs, and had said that several thousands, more cases could have been sold at satisfactory prices. He had been on a visit to the North of England, and various people interested had commented on, the quality of the New Zealand eggs. "We hope you will be able to go on," they said, "as we can take many more at this time of the year." THE EMPIRE SUPPLY. 0 The total import of eggs into England last year was £11,289,450 in value, out of which the British Empire supplied only £1,128,000 worth. There was room for another country to come, in, in spite of the result of the elections, especially if that country was' within the British Empire itself.: It was quite evident from what had happened that great care had been exercised in handling these eggs from New Zealand, and he would like to add that great care had been exercised by the two shipping companies in their transit. The whole of the shipment had been brought about under co-operative methods, and the results of the sales were equally pooled among the producers. The eggs were sent from Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago, thus representing a fair average quality produced in the Dominion. In New Zealand they had learned the lesson of co-operation. He had noticed that there had been one or two references made publicly in this country to New Zealand methods generally. It had been suggested that we were so far gone_ in Socialism that it was almost impossible to do anything with us. "Do not make any mistake. It is not Socialism. We use the State for the purpose of assisting, never of taking the place of any industry. That is a very different thing from Socialism." Co-op-erative methods had been initiated m the meat trade, and the daily producers were taking measures to control their shipments. They had had a great many difficulties wifca regard to their meat Dozens of steamers were held up in the Thames. They had now a Meat Control Board, which controlled the whole of the export with great care and saw that there was no glut and no scarcity of meat in the London market. EESULT OF ELECTIONS.

Mr. Massey went on to speak of the davy industry. As for eggsf he saw no reason why, with Government assistance, the industry should not develop He thought they would be able to surprise the people in England with the produce hey would be able to send in addition to that New, Zealand'was sending now He was not going to be discouraged will! what had taken place at the General Elections here. He did not care two pins about party politics, but he did care about Empire and about the overseas Domuuofls.; Tfiere waj.no reason

why they should not assist the British farmer out of his difficulties so far as possible. There were "industries in the JJommion which even he did not dreams ot two or three years ago. For instance, he was hopeful of the tinned salf ?Y" d"st7> and he did not think even what had taken place here would prevent teem from shipping this produce to the Home market. Their apples were very good indeed, and he was hopeful of themi yet; They were not going to give up the. English markets for their apples it they .got sufficient encouragement to, ?V ai^ them to S° on. There .were y-,UOO acres in the Dominion laid downi" apples, but there was' much profit tor the producers. It was in regard to apples that he would like to seelegis-' lation placed upon the Statute ' Book. ■•Ie was very glad to be able to meet so many gentlemen who were interestedm the egg industry. "I think you are ali of the same way of thinking that it will be a very good thing if we are able W) carry on as we have ■ commenced. I can see one or two weak points which will need to be remedied. I hope this will grow into an industry which will be a benefit to the producers on the other side of the world and of ■.'Considerable benefit to the consumers on this' side. ". . .'.'. „r...'..

AN IMPERIAL ASPECT,

Mr. J. B. Merrett, in a very excellent speech, explained in detail what had happened in New Zealand in preparation lor the shipment of the eggs. He spoke s of the..care that had been taken in the selection and tho grading, and of his personal supervision of the first cargo on the Corinthic. All the cases, ■liiTsaia""' were man-handled in Kew Zealand, and on arrival in London he had superintended the unloading. Some criticism had been, forthcoming regarding the great distance the e^gs had to travel. If the eggs were retained at an even temperature of 34 degrees Fahrenheit' they would retain their quality for. . two months. Many of the 'local eggs sold *s new-laid were as much. Was ten days old. The New., ....Zealand eggs, therefore, . ■■were'-1" as good_as most eggs' laid in ' England. As for the Canadian, American,, and Danish eggs, at this season they = were ass much as five and six months oldras most of them were laid last -spring^ ;'■ , Mr. Merrett went on to explain how the poultry business had been built up in New Zealand during the last' few years until they .were now able -to produce a surplus, of which these two shipments were an indication. As soon as they knew there was a market for the produce m England they had informed the producers in the Dominion", with" the result that they would have far more next season than they had this ,year Ihey were hoping they1 would be' ablo to supply the English market for four or five months. They could start so thai the eggs arrived here at the. beginning 01 October and end at the end of Janu° ary. . -1 : . ..

He had spoken to a number of Tqoley btreet merchants, and they had admitted that the money spent on foreien eggs went out of the country. Not ono cent of the money paid for the NewZealand eggs went out of this country It was all spent in Great Britain, and taken hack to the Dominion in manufactured goods, ilr. Mervett paid a compliment to the Shaw, Savill Company and the New Zealand Shipping Company for the trouble they had taken in New Zealand so that the . shipments should be a success. He told of some of the egg-laying records in the Dominion competitions. Finally, he. said lie hoped that this luncheon would be an ■historical event, and that in a few years' time they would be able to look back and feel that they were the pioneers of an important industry which had for its object the development of the Empire.

FUTURE OF INDUSTEY ASSURED... Major J. Salmon (managing director of .Messrs. Lyons and Co.) assured his" audience that from the experience 'his company had had both with the- chilled - eggs and the shelled eggs, they had been admirable. They could not bebetter. It was to be hoped that the bulk would be up to sample. There was one observation, however, he would - like to make.. He hoped the prices • would be within moderation^ There -was i no doubt that while New Zealand buU! ter, for instance, was an excellent "com-T modity, there was an extraordinary flue tuation in.the market price. They frank-' ly confessed that the commodities New; Zealand' had produced were worthy-' oE the great Dominion. He- was quite* sure that one and all would agree that! • the best feeling would be created' by the trade carried on between the .Dbmih-.': ions and the Home country. After all thetfuture of the Empire depended.upon working together within the Empire, ana '•■ that would be done most rapidly by'tho' sailors and the steamers that passed between the various British countries It had certainly afforded him very great) pleasure m meeting the energetic repre--1 sentative of New Zealand, Sir James Allen, and his able staff who had done so much for the Dominion. He felt sure ■that if the bulk were up to sample the future of-New Zealand eggs in- tfoV country was assured. All they looked" for was to be sure they had a'standard article Cheapness was one thing,: but.standard was even more important' If they could depend upon the stands" ard, the bare question of supply amf demand would regulate the price tho pro^ ducers had a right to get. On'behalf of the company that had taken a largo quantity of the frozen eggs and soms s') per cent, of the shelled, he had only to say if they continued a s well as they had done this year the success of' thY cummodity was assured. They deserved every support because of the excel-i lent way they had launched their new project. ' ' ■■,'■■ .-. ■'

Major G. Huskisson, D.S.O. -MO: • (director of Messrs. H; A. ".'Lane'^ni. Co.),- said he represented the firm, that had handled the bulk pi the eggs, and', their only complaint was that they-had not enough of them. New Zealand' butter was accepted by everybody otf the guarantee of the Government grader. If the standard were maintained, tha: trade would come to accept ■'. tlie,•ftew! Zealand eggs-with equal confidence. ■-'