BUTTER IN LONDON

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 128, 1 June 1937, Page 17

BUTTER IN LONDON

DOMINION'S POLICY

JUSTIFICATION CLAIMED

{By Telegraph—Press Association.)

CHRISTCHURCH, May 31

Recent price trends on the London dairy market have shown one outstanding feature of great interest to the Dominion, the gradual reduction and ultimately temporary elimination of the margin of Danish butter prices over New Zealanq.. This is claimed by the Dominion marketing authorities as partial justification at least for the new methods adopted in handling deliveries of butter on to the British market and as an answer to criticism made earlier in the year that the new policy was antagonising the trade arid reacting unfavourably on the market.

"We cannot claim that the reduction ot the margin is entirely due to our policy," said Mr. G. A. Duncan, Acting Director of Marketing, when commenting on the position in an interview today, "but it is only fair to say that both the general trend of prices and the narrowing of margin is an indication that there cannot be much wrong with our marketing policy. It must surely Le fair indication that there cannot be marked hostility to or boycotting of our butter, as was suggested in February when the price happened to be low.

"It is the desire of the Department with the new system to ensure that supplies should come on to the market as regularly as possible extended over as long a period of the year as is feasible," Mr. Duncan said. "In the past the buyer could not be sure that he would get.certain quantities at stipulated periods, because the factories here sold outright and altered the destination of the butter altogether. This new system has been made possible, of course, by; the guaranteed price plan of the Government.

"There has been some criticism that the scheme entailed holding the butter in store for too long a period. Actually there has not been much delay in this respect. What has occurred has arisen from the desire to spread the shipments more evenly. The scheme will have the tendency to reduce the former wide fluctuations in price and has eliminated speculative f.o.b. buying, which so often left agents and customers high and dry and probably accounted for loss of custom as well. That is why our plan is quite attractive to the agents at Home."

Mr. Duncan mentioned another improvement which, he said, the guaran-1 teed price plan had brought about on the market. The butter now being sold was markedly improved in quality. The system of payment adopted, giving quality 'premiums on grade points, had definitely led to an increase in high-scoring butter and cheese.