HEAVY WASTAGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 September 1941, Page 5

HEAVY WASTAGE

OF FRUIT FROM COOK ISLANDS SUGGESTIONS BY MEMBER FOR MASTERTON. IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY NEEDED. Pointing out that the amount of wastage that occurred in the handling of Cook Island oranges was sometimes nearly 50 per cent of the original case. Mr J. Robertson (Government, Masterton), who was chairman of the Parliamentary delegation which visited the Cook Islands in 1936, expressed the opinion that the best service that could be rendered to the fruitgrowers of Rarotonga would be to bring about an improvement in the quality of the fruit. Mr Robertson dealt with the matter when speaking on the report of the Industries and Commerce Committee on a Rarotongan petition seeking an increase in the prices paid to Rarotongan growers for bananas and oranges, assistance to growers in a banana replanting scheme, and the selling of Rarotongan special citrus fruits on the open market in New Zealand on a consignment basis. Mr Robertson said that in the case of the growers of oranges a replanting plan would give them a new outlook. Seven years elapsed before orange trees could bear, consequently any plan for replacing the existing orangebearing trees must be a long-term plan. It was interesting to note, he continued, that it was a unanimous recommendation of the 1936 delegation that “negotiations should be entered info between the Government and the New Zealand merchants to dispose of the fruit at agreed on fair prices,” and that “such negotiations should include provisions for marketing in New Zealand at regulated prices, with provision for adequate payment for all useful services rendered." That, it was claimed, would result in a substantial reduction in retail prices to the public. Mr Robertson said he was sorry the long-term planting plan recommended by the delegation was not carried out, as he thought it would have made a vast difference in the quality of the fruit. It cost about Ils a case to bring the fruit to New Zealand, he said. That Ils included freight paid on the wastage in each case of fruit. He did not think it would be an exaggeration to say that by the time some of the oranges reached the retailers there was a wastage of nearly 50 per cent of the original case. By improving the quality of the fruit shipped much of that waste could be prevented. The total per case paid by the Marketing Department was 4s 7.2 d, which was a tremendous improvement on the 2s 6d a case previously obtained by the grower. The report of the committee was referred to the Government for favourable consideration.