CHILLED BEEF

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 77, 17 April 1937, Page 17

CHILLED BEEF

Growth of Trade and Domin- . ion's Enterprise The rapid. expan3ion in New Zealand/a chjlled beef trade with Britain has been a feature of the current export season. Experts of fhis clasfe of meat for the present season to the middle'of iast month totalled 82,207 quarfcers, against 52,475 quaxters for the.corresponding period of last season, an increase of approximately 56 per cent. This .trade has been created largely at the expense of frozen beef, the export of; which in the same period hau fallen to 43,000 quarters from 80,222 quarters in the corresponding period of the previous season, a decline of over" 40 per cont. New Zealand's enterprise' in changing the type of her beef exports to take advautage of the concessions gained by the Bominions on tho' British market lias attracted the atten-, tion of the (Jommoawealth Veterinary OfBcer in London, Mr H. R. Tinney, who has pointed out to .his department that the permission granted Australia hnd New Zealand to ship an unlimited percentage of their beef exporis in chillod form is- b'eing availed of to the full by .New Zealand. The; extent of the chauge-over can be'eeen froin the fact that during January and February 24,706 quarters of chilled beef and only 2753 quarters of frozen beef were imported into Britain. from New Zealand, whereas in the I same months in the previous year chill- ' ed quarters numbored 22,197 and frozeti 11,416. Corresponding figures for Australia were: >Chilied, 16,654 quarters; frozen, 85,740; and 1936, chilled, 10,659 quarters; and frozen, 71,830 quarters. , ' Mr Tinney also pointed out that chilled beef shipments from New Zealand were likely to be fairly heavy at a time when peak production from Australian sources was expected to arrive. That would probably prove a severe test of the absorptive powers of the market. The Brazilian season for the export oi chilled beef commenced in February, and the beef had, in some cases, been. much plainer than the average. It was expected that 1937 would show whether the British market was capable of absorbing greater quantities of secondary grades of chilled beef.