The Times Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1922. NEW ZEALAND V. DANISH BUTTER.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 727, 2 May 1922, Page 4

The Times Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons.

TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1922. NEW ZEALAND V. DANISH BUTTER.

New Zealand will reap a splendid advertisement by reason of Itis superfine butter being sold on the London market at a price two shi!lsngs in advance of that commanded by the Danish article. This occurrence is unique in thd,t, we believe, it has been achieved on only one previous occasion, about( sixteen years ago. But we have substantial grounds for hoping that the present is only the first of many occasions when we will have the pleasure of recording the superiority of our. own blotter over the product of our formidable Danish rival. There is no reason why we should not. maintain the standard ■which is the cause for much g/ati-

fication to New Zealanders generally and! of profit to,,the dairy fanners in particular. The circumstances are propitious. There is an awakening recognition of the need for placing a top-notch article on the market, and the New Zealand Co-operative Dai% Company, not slow to appreciate the importance of superior quality, is keenly alive to the necessity of encouragaing suppliers to strive to produce the highest possible grade cream. In attaining this desirable goal opinion may differ as to the means to be engaged, but the incentive which an exltra premium for the superfine standard affords is naturally irresistible, offering as it does increased monetary reward for a work which should, be prompted by pride of labour as well! financial gain. Again, the determination to pay a bonus for early season supplies is one calculated to encourage farmers 'to supply the factories as easy as possible This is dictated by the knowledge that it is the butter manufacturers at this time that can be landed in England when supplies are shout and the demand accoioingly keen and prices firm', No doubt the of the company to bring about the consummation of that -devoutly wished for will be enthusiasticallv seconded by farmers throughout the province,. The latest market quotations strikingly demonstrate what can be achieved by quality, and, in the interests of the whole industry, it is hoped there will be a widespread movement to attain the super fine standard with the regularity that milking time comes round. Given the best quality, our agents in London will be armoured with the best weapon which can be manufactured for meeting our Continental! rival and for “boosting”’ the sale of New Zealand produce.

“We nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice.”

Concurent with the demand for an improved standard In the Dominion, it is gratifying - to know that the merchants in London are alive to the importance of advertising our butter, cheese and kindred products. From Itiime to time discussion; has taken place among producers as to the possibility of improving the position, but no united effort has been made to advertise New Zealand’s dairy produce and to see that it reaches consumers in the good state in which ‘it leavqs .the factories. It is almost incredible that this great industry has not been advertised and guarded .'in the country of consumption, and it is indeed a tribute to the quality of the product that the export trade has expanded so very much in comparatively a few years. We have before us a letter from one of the firms which import New Zealand butter and cheese, and it contains a statement that should be read with great interest by our own producers,. The letter ireads :

“Danish butter is beginning to feel the effect of the increased supplies and attractive quality of New Zealand butter. If it were not foil the heavy Continental demand for Danish butter there would be little disparity between the prices realised here for Danish butter and the New Zealand product, but the Danes have been receiving some large orders for unsalted butter from prance, Belgium, and Germany, and also for salted butter from America, with the resu,lt that they have been able to obtain extreme values for the comparatively limited quantites that are being sold in the United Kingdom. There is, however, a growing demand for New Zealand butter here, but we in the trade feel that it is necessary to do sometiling' 1,0 educate the public to ask for New Zealand, and we believe that if this can be successfully done it will bring the New Zealand product int.o the prominence it deserves. With this object in view a conference of agents met during the last week of January, and it has been decided to start a press propaganda by inspiring the pr-ess with carefully se’ectecl items which will cause the public to ask retailers for New Zealand butU.cjp. Similar propaganda has been carried on very successfully in the press in iregarad to other articles, and it is felt that this method should be applied to New Zealand butter with equally favourable results. However, the trial) is going to be made, and we are inviting? the aid of the High Commissioner for New Zealand in our efforts. We feel that something should be done To get the public to support their own Empire products in preference to those of foreign countries, and it is more or less a question of education. Meanwhile, in addition to the Continental demand for Danish butter, as explained above, the advantage the Danes have is that their supp’y to this country is constant and of unvarying

high quality, and delivered within a week of its manufacture, whereas New Zealand butter is off ithe market altogether for a portion of the year, and the recent exasperatingly slow discharge of New Zealand steamers has dislocated the ordinary run of business ; it has, therefore, been either a feast or a famine with the New Zealand supplies this season, and it is with this great irregularity in supplies that flucuating prices and irregular demand cannot be avoided, but with the return to regular arrivals we are sure the position of New Zealand butter could be considerably strengthened.”

It is indeed gratifying ft3o know that an organised advertising campaign is under way. It comes at an opportune time when Mr Goodfellow is busily engaged in perfecting a marketing scheme, which in ilts operation should prove of untold blessing to the dairying industry,. We are standing at the threshold of a new era in the industry, a period destined to see better advertising condtions and better prices ruling.