IN FRONT TRENCHES

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 29, 4 February 1932, Page 13

IN FRONT TRENCHES

RETAILERS' -POSITION

CUT AND FIXED PRICES

"The distributor of foodstuffs oceu-' pies the most unenviable position of all those engaged in. shopkeeping," said Mr. H. D. Bennett, founder and first president of the New Zealand Master Grocers' Association ton or twelve years ago, when addressing the Grocers' Federation Conference yesterday afternoon. "He is in the last line in the •process of distribution: from the. grower or the manufacturer at one end to the consumer at the other, but he is literally" in the front trenches in the great struggle to make food available to the people .at reasonable prices. Your counters and your offices are the meeting places for the masses. That is where you .meet the pleadings of the good, the bad, and the indifferent. Col^ lectively you'practically meet the whole I population. There is an insistent demand that your service shall be efficient... The ideal in r efficiency 'is to j give the maximum.of service at a minimum of cost.". ■

1 In; the earlier days when grocers' associations were.first formed, he con-! tinued, many people thought that the sole object of such getting together/ was to fix prices'.. Indeed, there wfefe some in the trade who', thought and 'stilt thought price'fixing to- be the ' only worthy purpose. Most :of the delegates would probably agree that'while' price cutting was suicidal and. to be altogether deplored, price fixing, was equally unhealthy, and should be discountenanced. I . ■'

• fA.ftfer speaking- of particular problems before the trade, Mr.'-Bennett returned to the subject bf price, fixing and the giving of'credit. ' While geni eral price fixing could not be tolerated, ■under any circumstances, he said, there was ample room for collective .action in many other directions. Perhaps the greatest bug--bear of the retailer '-.-Jiv these-times' was the giving of'credit. Speaking as' one who had ..hadv many years of he could say that the taking of long 'credit' was nearly as bad. The subterfuges variously in; vogue for giving discountsl to. customers 'also- required cleaning up.. The only to' combat^undesirable features was by combined and collective action. Ke-; tailers, especially of the people's foodi stuffs, had a. jm'ost important;,pOst to fill in the. general order.'; of ~ society to-day. ■ '•' • •''-.-' ; '■'■• '^ '' :y[ ".' •