FRUIT MARKETS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 289, 1 August 1932, Page 3

FRUIT MARKETS

RESULTS OF LAST SEASON'S / TRADE WITH / BRITAIN. MARKET BOARD'S REPORT. New Zealand's netntion in Great Britain's fruit magket is dealt with in the report just issued by the Empire Marketing Board on "Fruit Supplies in 1931." New Zealand, as in 1930, took third place last year among the Empire countries shipping apples to England. A new record for the imports of fresh fruit into the United Kingdom was set up in 1931. Britain imported 28,839,000 ewts., valued at £31,698,000. In spite of the large drop in priees, her fruit bill went up. But although she imported more, she ate less. Consumption of fruit per head of the population fell by 4|lb to just under 801b 'each- This drop was mainly due, the report suggests, to the decline in the home crop of apples, pears, plums and cherries, which was only partly made up by a considerable rise in imports. New records, statajs the report, were created in 1931 for imports of bananas, pineapples, peaches, oranges, grapefruit and strawberries. Over a million more bunches of bananas- were imported into Britain "in 1931 than in the previous year. The Empire share of the banana imports has risen to 43 per cent., from 15 per cent. four years ago, largely owing to increased activity in Jamaica, which' now sends Britain about 7,000,000 bunches a year. * Oranges Most Popular. For the first time on record, oranges proved the most popular fruit. Ajpples have hitherto held pride of place, hut came second last year on account of the light home crop, with bananas third. Taken together, these three fruits account for nearly three-quar-ters of Britain's fresh fruit consumption. Although 1931 saw a drop in total consumption, more bananas, oranges and grapefruit were eaten. The decline in consumption was mainly in apples and plums, in spite of the fact that imports of apples from overseas increased by 1,400,000 cwts. The grapefruit habit is growing steadily in the United Kingdom; South Africa; the West Indies and Palestine are all increasing their output. Consumption of grapes is also well on the upgrade, and South Africa again exceed'ed her previous record. Imports of peaches very nearly doubled themselves in 1931. Pears were also imported in larger quantities. Comparison with Germany. Interesting comparisons between the consumption of fruit in Germany and in the United Kingdom are given in the reports. Imports of apples into the United Kingdom have increased by 80 per cent. since 1913, but have fall'sn in Germany by over 40 per cent. Similarly, the United Kingdom is now importing 80 per cent. more pears than before the war, but German trade returns show an increase of only 8 per cent. On the other hand, the Germans have increased their consumption of oranges by over 100 per cent., against a corresponding increase in this country of 80 per cent., and they are eating three times as many bananas, whereas we have only doubled our consumption. Over £1,000,000- was spent on fresh cut flowers in 1931. Last year the United Kingdom's flower bill increased by £300,000, and reached £1,065,000. The imports of bulbs also increased, and set up a new record valued at £1,471,000. This is 33 per cent. greater in value than the 1925 imports.