PRICE OF BANANAS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 924, 18 March 1930, Page 10

PRICE OF BANANAS

SMALL SHIPMENT CAUSES INCREASE COST TO THE RETAILER The present cost of bananas was the subject of a statement made to The Sun by Mr. PI. G. Staley, secretary of the Auckland Retail Fruiterers’ Association this afternoon. Mr. Staley said that the Tofua arrived this morning with 4,000 cases of Fiji bananas which was a small shipment for this time of the year, the usual shipment being 18,000 cases. The bananas were not in very good condition, but the price fixed ex wharf by the importers was 32s 6d a case for the best green fruit. “Usually a case contains from SO to 841 b of green fruit,” 'said Mr. Staley, “but when ripe that is reduced to about 721 b. Shopkeepers can only sell ripe bananas and therefore they must base the cost on the fruit when ripe. The cost ex-wharf, with the cartage to retailers’ shops costing Is a case, is 33s Cel, which works out at a little more than s£d a lb. This is for unripe fruit which does not ripen evenly. “Therefore for the best fruit the retailer would be entitled to charge 8d a lb and for the poorer fruit 6d a lb, giving an average of 7d a lb, which is the equivalent to 25 per cent, of his outlay. “Retailers in certain districts refuse to buy at these prices because they know the public cannot afford to pay. We are not sure that the merchants are justified in charging such high prices even when a small quantity arrives, but that question will be dealt with at the coming Government inquiry.”