NEW ZEALAND MEAT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 69, 29 March 1913, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND MEAT.

THE SOUTHFIELD VIEWPOINT. CONTINENTAL DEMAND. (Wellington Evening Post, 18.3.13.) After an obesrvation tour through New Zealand extending over three months, Mr H. S. Fitter, head of the large frozen meat firm of H. S. ; Fitter and Sons, Smithfield, London, has seen much of the business with which his firm has been connected ever since frozen meat was introduced into the English market, and found time to spend a few days with Mr and Mrs Arthur Richmond, Brooklands, Midhirst.

Mr Fitter, whose house was founded in Leadenhall Market, London, in 1856, came to New Zealand especially to see for himself, the country; its meat, supplies; its methods of slaughtering, dressing, freezing, and shipment of meat. In the course of an interview on the meat trade given to ; the Post, Mr Fitter said both he and 1 his son, Mr Eric Fitter, were delighted with all they had seen in New Zealand. Everything pointed to prosperity, and he was much struck by the abundant producing power of the land. We have, he said, seven shops in 'the Market, and our business is to place the meat directly into the hands of the butchers or into the hands of the retailer. :As regards the way the business is conducted in New Zca-

; land; of course the. -fact thati many of the men now slaughtering for export are new hands will necessarily make the delivery slower than'it was c before the strike,' but we have visited i! several of the large works since the strike and we (my son and I) have exi amined the carcases that have been prepared by these new men, and I must say Ave are very pleased with them and the way in which the men are doing the work ; also the careful attention being paid to their Avork. We can confidently say that the loss in value due to the incompetent dressing will be. practicably nil. Whilst on the subject of dressing Ave must, however, say that people in Noav Zealand appear to over-estimate the value of improving the dressing and appearance, and they also attach too much importance to the present handling of the meat consigned to London. But Ave Can assure them that

however perfect the appointments may be and Avhatever further facilities ate invented for handling the produce on the other side no adequate improvement in the cash value could possibly ■ result. APPEARANCE AND PRICE. “We have seen carcases in store ■ in 'Noav Zealand and Ave have handled personally thousands of these carcases at Home, and can state as a positive 1 fact that if it were possible to place these carcases on ( ithe London market in exactly tke same condition, without a .scratch on the carcase',. without i speck of dirt on the cloth, and Avith every wrapper intact, these carcases would not be worth one-sixteenth of a penny a pound more in value'. In f England avc think so much more of the quality of the meat compared Avith its appearance. because after a|l it is 'theimeat avc want, and avc Avapt it to 1 eat, not to look at. There>are hundreds of men in the retail trade who are willing to give |d per pound or even more above the market- price .for anything

of specially good quality.” “With regard to the most suitable breeds for the. market,” said Mr Fitter, “we can safely say that the Down or Down cross is the breed that finds most favour in'London. That question of breed, however, is one that we" must leave entirely to the New Zealand grower to settle, for so much depends on the soil and climatic conditions as to what "breed is the most profitable to raise in this particular, district. The great thing, however, and one in which there is still room for improvement in the North Island, is to see that the lambs and sheep are properly fattened before killing. Further, it is a maxim generally accepted in the trade that an animal must die “happy” if it is going to give satisfaction in the eating.” HANDLING IN LONDON.

When questioned about the accommodation afforded to New Zealand meat in London, Mr Fitter said he, understood that a considerable stir had been made about it in New Zealand. If a proposed scheme of improving the accessibility were carried into effect, the convenience would be so slight that no material benefit would ensue. The. dock . stores are, quite all right for■ the, provincial trade, but the up-Thames stores, r.e., those close to the market, were the only,practicable ones for supplying the market requirements. Orders for any of the dock stores have to be sent in the day before, and it was utterly impossible to gauge long ahead the requirements of the market. The dock stores, too, were closed immediately the night deliveries were completed, whereas the up-Thames stores were

kept open all night and all day, and supplies could be drawn from them at any moment as required. Some of the ideas and suggestions that had been circulated were, to one intimately acquainted with the trade, very wide of the mark. The idea of Bristol competing with London as a centre of distribution was utterly absurd. “We are quite confident,” Mr Fitter went on, “that Bristol and other ports of the West Coast and elsewhere in the United Kingdom will every year increase their imports of frozen meat/ but the class of meat generally required for the Continent is a smaller and cheaper article than that which finds favour in London.”

With regard to the opening for frozen meat on the Continent, Mr Fitter said the clamouring of the people had become so insistent that it could otily he a matter of time when the various Governments would have to allow frozen meat .to be imported without the heavy restrictions that are enforced at the present time. It was, of course, an open secret that the rea-

son for those restrictions was the fear of the Government’s losing the agrarian vote. “We do not think, however, that the Continental demand will directly benefit New Zealand, as the Continental demand is always for a lean meat. A really prime joint is rarely to be seen brought up intact on the table, but rather made dishes, such as ragouts and that kind of thing, und consequently the class of sheep and lambs produced in Australia and South America would be more suitable for the Continent—light-weights, thin, and small.”