PROGRESS IN EMPIRE BUYING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 8, 1 September 1931, Page 6

PROGRESS IN EMPIRE BUYING

NEW ZEALAND SALES ( MARKETING BOARD REVIEWS TRADE. BOARD'S METHODS. LONDON, July 22. A steady increase in the saies of Australian and other Empire produce in the United Kingdom is recor.ded in the annual report of the Empire Marketing Board just publisihed. "The growing hahit of buying from within the Empire has attained an impetus in the United Kingdom," states the report, "whieh eyen the worldwide economic depression has been powerless to .retard." ■ Twenty-two oommodities, draw.n from four Dominions and seven Colonies, were noted in the annual report of the Empire Marketing Board fon 1928-1929 as having been imported into the United Kingdom in the previous two seasons in greater quantities ' than ever before in their histories. Again, the hoard's annual report for 1929-1930 showed that 2b new records had been set up, in the year then under review, by Empire foodstuffs, as regards volume of imports into the United Kingdom. Nearly half these did even better in the year now being considered, while a further substantial list of Empire foodstuffs established records. Apples from Canada and from New Zealand reached this country in record quantities in 1930, as did bananas from the- British West Indies, butter and cheese'from New Zealand, caffee from British East Africa, currants from Australia, eggs from Australia and South Africa, grapefruit from South Africa and Palestine, lamb from New Zealand, oranges, peacihes, plums, sugar and wine from South Africa, pears from no fewer than four ' Dominions, and tobacco from India. 1 A number of other foodstuffs are also mentioned in the report for which, while the record was not reached in 1930, the last year's im ports surpassed all previous years except 1929. These include Australian raisins and sultanas, New Zealand frozen pork, Ceylon tea, Australian sugar, and British Malayan canned pineapples. Changes in Pubiic Taste. The people of the United Kingdor.i are proving themselves steadily more willing to buy from within the Empire. Many factors have combined to bring about this encouraging result. First, more scientiflc attention is being paid to-day than ever before by Empire producers to the need for supporting the natural high quality of their goods by grading and orderly marketing in all its branches. Secondly, distributive traders of all kinds'in the United Kingdom have shown themselves wholeheartedly resolved to further the progress of Empire buying along sound economic lines. Thirdly, the contact between producers overseas and wholesale and retail traders in the United Kingdom grows steadily closer. Fourthly, consumers in the United Kingdom, men and women, are becoming more aware of the excellent and w-ide range of Empire products and of the importance of Empire buying,. Extensions Recommencted. When the Imperial Conference mel in 1926 the board was only a few montlis old, so the Conference of 1930 was the first to be held since the board began actively to perform its functions. The Conference passed the board under review arfd adopted a number of resolutions affecting its present and future activities. Surveying the hoard's work since its inception in 1926 the .Conference expressed itself as satisfied that it is valuable to the Commonwealth as a whole, and recommended its continuance and its extension in certain directions, notably in the spheres of rnarket intelligence, statistical surveys and market promotion. The Conference noted and approved the Empire Marketing Board's pro gramme of research, involving commitments approaching £2.000,000 from the Empire Marketing Fund, as well as independent contributions by Empire Govemments. A- Regional "Saies Drive." Another extension of what may be regarded as the board's more directiy commercial activities in the .field of marketing is instanced in a special campaign which was undertaken, at the beginning of 1931, in Lancashire with a view to increasing tlie saies of home and overseas Empire butter m that area. Here lohg-established prejudice in favour of casked butters of pale colour was held to be too deeply entrenched to permit an effective distribution being made of Empire butters, particularly those from Australia and New Zealand. The board decided that as large supplies were available of butter of first- rate quality from these Dominions an effort should be made to overcome this saies resistanee by a dcflnite appeal to the distributive trades. The board, therefore, called into consultation the London managers of tlie Australian and New Zealand Dairy Produce Boards and invited their co-operation in a concerted effort. An office was accordingly opened by the board in Manchester early in January. Galls were made, in the first. mstance, upon the importers ani wholesalers in Liverpool and • Manchester and their co-operation ih the scheme secured. The board's ofilcers then proceeded to call upon every retailer in Manchester and certain other Lancashire towns in order to influence those who did not at present stoek Empire butters. The results of the campaign have been remarkably successful, 2940 shops out of 6620 visited were selling Empire butter wlion the campaign began, while before it closed the number had risen to 4903, an increase of 2000 shopq selling Empire butter. The close co-operation of the two Dominion Dairy Produce Boards unquestionably contributed to this success. There is clear evidence that the old prejudices against boxed butters have been broken down — it is hoped permanently. The experience gained in this experiment of employing travellers without samples 'in close co-operation with the representatives of the overseas producers encourages the board to believe that they har'e here a field capable of considerable extension. Indications suggest that the continued use of the three methods of approach which have been a feature of the past year's work in the field of marketing promotion may materially contribute to the board's success. Publicity. Eight methods of publicity ha^e been used. First, advertisements have been inserted in the national press and in trade and local papers. Secondly, posters have been displayed on the 1750 frames distributed over 450 towns. The sets of posters have been changed 17 times in the year. Hoardings \vere used at Birmingham. Reproductions of suitable posters, with leaflets, \vere issued to 22,000 schools in the United Kingdom which had applied for them. Thirdly, display material for shops !has again been

sent out and leaflets, both for housewives and for schools, have been issued in great quantities. Fourthly, lectures have been given. Fifthly, wireless talks to housewives have been arranged, ,by courtesy of the British Broadcasting Corporation, following wlhich 20,000 indiv^dual applications were received for leaflets. The chairman of the board and of the Research Grants Committee both gave talks in connection with the board's work. Sixthly, the board has taken part extensively in exhibitions and shopping weeks. Seventhly, meetings of business men, traders and producers have been addressed. Eighthly,, the distcibution of films through theatrical and other channels has been developed. Th© Board's Methods. Each of the methods hitherto employed by the board for the furtherance of Empire marketing has again proved valuable in 1930-31. The poljcy of making grants for scientiflc research work in the United Kingdom and in the overseas Empire has been continued. Economic investigation and market inquiries have been carried out o'n a more intensive scale, and publicity in, all its branches has been used to popularise the wisdom of Empire buying. It has always , been the board's view, in every Empire country, Empire bu'ying begins at home; and the fact that the producers of tne United Kingdom have first claim in their own country on the home consumer has, as always, been stressed in the board's appeal.' Market Intelligence. The importance of eollecting information as to supplies of Empire and foreign oommodities available from week to week, and of disseminating such information as widely as possible among Empire producers and others concerned in Empire trade, has been fully appreciated by the board. The issue of weekly notes for the fruit and dairy produce trades has been extended. The latter include figures hitherto unavailable of butter in cold storage, and these have made possible a study of the consumption of imported butter, which in the first five months of 1931 was found to have riseli by about 14 per cent. over the corresponding period of the pre vious year — an increase almost entirely derived from Empire sources. '' Consumers' Preference. The board's machinery for'testing the differing market requirements of the United Kingdom Jias been extended and a number of investigations have been condueted and their find-_ ings made available to producers ani* others concerned. Experimental shipments of Empire commodities whi'h might find a market in the United Kingdom have been organised in co operation with the authorities in the countries of oi'igin. Studies of wast.ige in transit have been made. Two Emplr© Shops. The year has been notable for outstanding activity in this field. The experiment tried at Glasgow in the previous year of popularising and extending the sale of Empire produce by the opening of a sliop, in which samples were sold to tlie pubiic under conditions which secured tlie goodwill and co-operation of the trades proved definitely successful. A similar shop was therefore opened in Birmingham in January of this year, and plans are under consideration for ac quiring the tenancy of other shop premises in various centres for periods' not exceeding six months. These shop experiments have the merit of affording an opportunity to Empire countries in turn of making a special display uf their produce in surroundings which are designed to stimulate pubiic in terest and under conditions which, thanks to the keen interest taken by the distributive trade, are likely to be productive of permanent results. The temporary establishment of an Empi.rn shop in a particular district also provides a centre at which the publicity and marketing activities both of the board and of the Governments concerned can be strikingly concen trated. The Collectiva Consum>sr. The importance of securing the practical interest of the large buyers of foodstuffs, such as local authorities, institutions, hotels, shipping companies and other-. bodies which undertake catering on a large scaie, has "been recognised from the outset, and tentative steps to develop this field of activity have been taken on more than one occasion. During the past year the board felt justified, as a result of the experience they had gained since their formalion, in beginning serious efforts in this field. A special staff was accordingly appointed to call upon local authorities, after suitable introduction, and to discuss with them the extent to whicli their purchase of Empire goods might be increased. This experiment has already proved to be justified. The reception aerorded to tlie. board's ofilcers by local authorities all over England and Wales' has been most encouraging, and some two hundred authorities have invited tlie board tG submit suggestions for incorporation in their tender forms, when these ac? under revision. The new forms >f tender become operative, in the majority of cases, on April 1. It is toi early yet to judge of ihe full effect of the ehanges which have been made as a result of tlie advice tendered by the board, but there is no doubt that t'he purchasing power of local authorities is in course of being mobilised in the interest of Empire trade in no uncertain fashon.