PRICE FLUCTUATIONS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 54, 26 November 1937, Page 11

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS

The Fruit and Vegetable Markets MERCHANTS' POSITION "Though we sometimes pay low prices in the markets, half of the goods are unsaleable when they are in the shop. The wastage is so great in the fruit business that there is no room for criticism and references to 'cxploitation,' " said Mr C. Holland, president of the Wellington Fruit Merchants' Association, in reterence to a question of which notice had been given in the kLouse of Representatives by the bpeaker, the Hon. W. E. Barnard, iu his capacity as member for Napier. The publication of this question aroused the interest of several Wellington mercliants, wlio claimed that to pick an lsolated example of a pnce was uni'air and that the fluetuations that prevailed were out of their control. "No member of the business in Wellington is finaneial — that is, finaneial as he ought to be for the work he does." continued Mr. Holland. "How many of them are paying income tax?" "Wellington people don't know they are alive," said Mr. D. Elliott, another Wellington merchant, who has recently returned from a visit to Invercargill. "In Invercargill I saw new potatoes selling at 4d and 6d a pound, and lettuces were 5d each. Bananas that are .10 for a shilling here were six and eight for a shilling." Exampleg of the violcnt lluctuationB experienced in the fruit and vegetable market were given by Mr. E. Williams, secretary of the association. He gave as an instance the drop in the price of cauliflowers which were bringing 13i/- a sack ofi Monday and on Wednesday were down to 6/- a sack. Oranges tliat were bought at 23/- a case were being sold in most shops at a price that roturn a profit of 5/- a case without deducting cartage. "It is not a matter of exploitation but a matter of necessity," he said. "What we lose on the swxngs we have to make up on the roundabouts. Customers never take into consideration the waste caused by deterioration and the loss suffered when the market is glutted. The merchants are not to blame ih any way."