MARKETING OUR PRODUCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 191, 3 August 1908, Page 2

MARKETING OUR PRODUCE.

It is now almost two years since about SO per cent, of the dairy factories i-t Xciv Zealand banded together and formed a fuitil with which to defray the expenses of sending Home a repiescutaiive whose duty it would be to caieiulty watch the marketing of our butter and ehee.se, with il.he object of letting on. daily factories know whether our produce was being handled to the best advantage, and, if not, whether lie couid suggest any system which would more lirmly establish our butter and cheese on the Jloinc markets, mid thereby ,e cure to our farmers heller returns, ill 1 . Muckay, a shrewd man and well qualified for tin; work, was appointed, lie did not go Home with any lixed policy in his mind; lie went Home to look, and to learn, and during the eighteen months which he has spent, almost day and night, watching our Imtter arrive, watching it being sold, and almost watching it being consumed, it is mUm-.il llr.it he .should be able to speak with some authority oil the subject. The gra itfact which has struck 'him is that Xew Zealand butter and cheese is shipped Home to so many iirms—which have either purchased it in the colon v. or are tc sell it at Home-that it is impossible to get any united action 011 the part of the receivers at Jloinc. The sma'l quantity that each firm receives (owing to the total being so divided up) makes their interest in New Zealand produce a comparatively small matter. fie lias found that there is 1111 regularity in re spect to the price at which the goods ar; sold. For one shipment it may happen that-'one linn may be getting ills for a medium quality liutter. wjiilst aiiotlvH firm handling a vastly superior butter (worth at least Lis per ewt. more nionev) is ottering the butter at 112s per ewt., possibly beeaiiM' it has not got a siilbcienlly large elientclle to enable it_ i" sell it at full value, thus cutting prices iu order to draw away clients from other (inn.;. In the same way linns which have purchased butter iu Xew Zealand are quite content to sell at 11 Is ami 1 1-s because at prices they are niaki.ig a satisfactory profit. They possibly liave liu regular clients, ami are mereiy acting iu a speculative wa.i. or. 11- they often make handsome pr-diN. il pays them well to retain the good graces of some big customers by selling somewhat under tic ruling market prices. "Whereas had all the butter been sent Home and placed in strong hands for sale on consi«ninenl. all of this butter might well have been sold lit libs. These are small instances of what goes on ever.' shipment, but everv season, and it is all done at Ihe expense of our tanners: there is little question about thai. 11.

is a well-known fact that two (inns at Dome last season, bv speculating in \" i-v Zealand and Australian butter, made small fortunes, one firm clearing ovr I COO.finii. Kncli year fresh Home houses are represented in the Colony, and so as to get the thin end of the wedge in they make special tempting oilers to factories, end. if tliey happen to be in I tie mixing and blending liiiiiues., themselves, they can very easilv all'ord in; make olfcr.s which other houses (tint are merely distributors of butter cannot I

ailurd to do. Unfortunately, in the past factories in Is\*w tfcaland have been too prom; to listen tu tempting oilers wliicli arc not on sound business Hues. Oilers

are uiado in aJI sorts of ways, but gener- I ally the one which appeal* lo factories most is when they got un ull'er " without' recourse" within about %d of the ruling straight-out purchasing price. Xo such an oltor faer.oric-> generally sumimb. Even more tempting oilers than Iheie have been made. We know of one case last year in which n factory was guaranteed that the Jinn would' not only ieturn to the factory a price that tvas equal to or better tlian any other factory received for iU output,'il' consigned through any other linn, but it would also return a pricr which would be equal to or belter than the highest price at which any other factory even sold iU output for. How could any factory ro.-

fuse such an oiler as this? Tt meant that they were bmnul to receive as high as the highest. The result, of course, is that the linn secures ihe factory, an I then make* capital out of it by telling other factories that such and such a

factory has decided to consign through Unit iirm; tin- result is that others follow suit, liut of course they do mil I lie same guarantee. Then conns tinipiostion of selling tlm goods at Home. The lirm luis not got tin; clients in t!u.' ordinary r.'t nil way (,o whom it ran s.*il 1 lie goods, anil tln'i'i'forc it lnis to cut, tlic price niiilcr (lie ordinary market price in order to quit tlie goods. anil other linns, who perhaps have lieen dealing willi these particular clients for years, have to reduce their prices or lost' clients. Again our \>o»r fanner is tiled. A great many of these matters wele known to tin* farmers ill New Zealand before they sent Mr. .Mackav Home, Inn they wished to have them verified and to have his suggestions for improving this most unhappy situation. .Mr. Mack.iy sees how the whole position can be changed, lie has hail all opportunity of knowing which are tin* strong men anil which are the weak ones at Home; lie knows those win) can be trusted awl those who can not; and he knows those who will make a success of selling Xcv Zealand butter, and those whose interest it is to spoil it, anil he has formulated a scheme which practically amounts Id lllis: Jle wants our factories to join hands ami send Home, all their liuttei and cheese to three or four of the best linns. He has given his opinion as to which those iirnis should be" and the idea is that one representative from each of those firms, anil Mr. Macliay, should Ik a committee to fix the minimum price at which butter and cheese shall be sold week by week, or ofteuer if necessary; and lie.' points out that if the bulk ol New Zealand's produce is sent to three or four linns, these firms will not onl> be willing to charge a lesser eommissioi than they are now doing, 'but that tin prolit which they will get from the busi ne.ss will make it veil worth their whi i to devote a very considerable, portioi of 'their time to improving the selling conditions of New Zealand butter and cheese. It is practically a modification of the Danish system,'and it is liopol that (lie result will be (if it is adopted) that the great dilVci'enee which so olteii riih-s ill price between New Zealand an 1 Danish butter will lie reduced to a iniaij i,mm. Mr. Mackay also points out that ' a similar system lias been adopted by I a- number of Victorian faetiuics I for several rears past, with yory con- ' siileiaUe benefit to themselves. Mr. Jlackay's proposal has been discussed u virions meetings held at Paluieislin North and at llawcra and in the Wau-i----rapa. Tint I'alnierslon meeting was merelv to explain the At the Wairarapa meeting the factories (with only oil" exception) agreed to join tne proposal, lull, at llawcra, as a number of factories had not received instructions from their directois as to how they were to act. 110 definite action was taken, lmt it is understood that, the delegates present were unanimous that the scheme was a beneficial one. .Some factories, however, did not like the idea of entirely losin" control of the disposal of_ their •moils but if a scheme of this kind is For the liencfit of the whole, individualism must 'be put on one side, or pcihaps it could be arranged that after the three, or four firms hail lieen selected, the different factories may then select winch one of the three or four they prefer shall have the selling of their goods. This, we think, will probably overcome all opposition. Possibly this season there wiM be no shipments of butter made until late iu Septeinliei 1 . but the sooner the scheme is completed the liciter. for doiilil less certain arrangements must hj" made which will hake a little -time. Therefore we hope to hear ill a few (lav? that the Taninalii factories have lnd a further meeting mid have unaniinou ; :iy decided to carry' out the scheme, which appears Ho lie a solution of the troubles which have lie-et our dairy factory directors in the past, and which, we trust, ■will bring many thousands of pounds annually into the Taraiiaki province.