The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1930. EMPIRE MARKETING.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 July 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1930. EMPIRE MARKETING.

That modern marketing can be carried out efficiently only by an enormously complex machine, remarks an exchange, is the lesson emphasised in the report of the operations of the Empire Marketing Board for the year ended on May 31st. The purpose of the Board, briefly defined, is “to improve the quality and increase the quantity of Empire products marketed in the United Kingdom, and to make Empire buying a national habit.” Thus badly put, the aim of the Board is definite and straight-forward; but the methods which have to be employed in pursuing this purpose are manifold. Educational publicity is the most spectacular of its undertakings, but advertisement is of little avail unless the Board is able to “produce the goods.” With this end in view scientific research becomes one of the principal functions of the organisation, and work is in progress in England, ami in each of the dominions, the object of which is to improve production and to remedy defects in produce for export that may affect the demand in Great Britain. Tn tin's connection the report notes, that, as the result of a grant to the National Institute, for Dairy Research at Reading, a stud.y is being made of “red spot” in cheese and of “fishiness” in butter. The Institute has succeeded in isolating the organism responsible for “red spot,” and an effort is be.ing made to trace the primary source of infection. Other researches of interest to New Zealand relate to the standardisation of wool quality, fruit disease and insect control, plant breeding and seed research, and work on the entomological control of noxious weeds. The Board makes confident claims that its work lias lieen of direct benefit to producers in increasing sales

on the English market. Shipments of Empire-grown foodstuffs into the United Kingdom Lust ;C.ir, the report states, surpassed all previous records. Imports of New Zealand cheese and butter- in 1929 totalled 3,116,000 cwt. compared with 2,8G7,000cwt. in the previous best years, 220,0C0 dozen eggs were imported in comparison with 140,000 dozen in 1928, and in increase in frozen pork imports to 169,000 cwt. represents a- rise of 47,OQ0cwt. over the previous record year’s demand. Snell figures are testimony, to some extent at least, to the work of the "Empire Marketing Board, even when allow-

ance is made for the natural increase in demand which it is only 'reasonable to assume would have, occurred did tlie Board not exist. But it would be nearsighted in any case to attempt to assess the value of the Board merely on the visible results of its four years’ operations. Supply does not create the demand, in present day conditions, and the Board’s objects are first to ensure that the supply is adequate and of the best quality, secondly to make British consumers aware that the goods they require are being produced within the Empire and are available to them. It can hardly be argued, in face of this eivouraging report, that it i,s not succeeding in its difficult task.