H.—29a

The measure of such efficiency and hygiene was, up to the time when, zoning of distribution was introduced, a reflection of the conditions brought about by the depression years. Many vendors through economic circumstances were allowed to sell milk without any worthwhile control being imposed by the local authorities. With the introduction of zoning and the elimination of competition, there remains no reason why the standards of distribution should not be thoroughly overhauled, brought under strict control, and rapidly improved. Under present conditions of zoning, the Commission is of opinion that the licensing authorities can demand maximum efficiency and a considerable advance in the present standard of service. Agents of Distribution There are several classes of agencies by which milk reaches the consumer. The chief of these is the milk-roundsman, but an appreciable part of the milk distributed reaches the consumer through the milk-shop and the milk-bar. Other avenues are hotels and restaurants. Hospital and other institutions, public and private, also purchase milk for consumption. Contractors deliver bottled milk to schools in cities and towns and throughout the countryside. Other supplies go to the camps and stations of the Armed Forces and to shipping, both naval and mercantile. When the cleanliness, freshness, and wholesomeness of the milk consumed is under consideration, all these agents of distribution must be reviewed. In the final assessment of the consumer price, all these avenues of distribution form a composite part of the total costs. The Commission has, in each metropolitan area, endeavoured to ascertain the quantities handled by the various agents. Incomplete records have made a really satisfactory statement on this matter impossible. What information is available is summarized for each area in the several chapters of Part I and in the Appendix to this report. The maintenance of effective control may be rendered difficult and uncertain by the employment, in any section of the distributing trade, of an unnecessarily large number of persons. For instance, in the case of roundsmen it is obvious that if the Auckland standards of distribution, where approximately 60 gallons per roundsman is delivered, could be improved to the Wellington standard of 120 gallons per roundsman, then approximately only half the number of roundsmen would be required with a saving not only in total wages, but also in transport costs, &c. This comparison also applies to the large number of private vendors operating in each area. If each round could be built up to a standard of, say, 90 to JOO gallons, it would go very close to halving the present number of personnel engaged in the distributing trade and would considerably reduce vehicle and other costs. These remarks apply to vendors and producer-vendors as well as to employed roundsmen. The fact must be borne in mind that the present wasteful method whereby individual vendors collect from the farm, sometimes situated at a considerable distance, means the unnecessary use of vehicles and equipment, consumption of petrol, depreciation of vehicles, and excessive man-hours. This total cost is direetly related to the number of gallons which are then distributed. If the number of gallons distributed is 100, the cost per gallon will be at least half what it is when only 50 gallons are distributed. The following information on mileages travelled and gallonages delivered is striking evidence on this point. In Christchurch twenty-three producer-vendors travelled a total of 353 miles per day to deliver 776 gallons of milk, or an individual average of 15J miles to deliver approximately 34 gallons of milk. These same twenty-three producer-vendors, in addition to the above mileage travelled on delivery, travelled a total of 226 miles, or an individual average of approximately 10 miles, to transport this milk to their round. In the same area information was available for seven vendors showing that they travelled a total of 129 miles to collect and deliver 253 gallons of milk, or an individual average of approximately 18 miles to collect and deliver 37 gallons of milk. Examination of the tables available from other centres shows a similar position, and this must be considered undesirable both from the point of view of efficiency of collection and economy of distribution. A further most unsatisfactory feature of this low gallonage of delivery per unit is that with the larger number of vendors engaged in the industry effective control over the standard of supply diminishes. Considering that the health of both adults and children is vitally concerned, and that economy of distribution is directly determined by these factors, these matters are of considerable moment. Milk-shops Complete information was not available to the Commission concerning the numbers of all shop dairies in the several metropolitan areas. This is partly due to the fact that the control of the licensing authority (for instance, the Metropolitan Milk Council in Auckland) does not extend to the whole of the metropolitan area. The following table gives some indication of the position with the relationship of the number of milk-shops to the density of population : — Number of Number per 1,000 of Area. Population. Milk-shops. the Population. Auckland .. .. .. .. 223,000 369 = 1-7 Wellington .. .. .. .. 124,000 91 =0-7 Hutt .. .. .. .. .. 36,000 50 = 1-4 Christchurch .. .. .. .. 133,300 303 = 2-3 Dunedin .. .. .. .. 82,000 123 = 1-5 Milk-shops occupy an important place in the distribution of milk. In Auckland they distribute 13 per cent, of all milk sold (excluding Armed Forces). Their importance may iucrease or decrease in the future according to the development of the organization of distribution. It is highly desirable under all circumstances, however, that the number of such licensed dairies should not be excessive and that the conditions under which milk is stored pending its sale to the consumer should be under strict control. In some other countries milk-shops sell at a lower retail price to the consumer than the delivered price of milk. This has not been the practice in New Zealand, and the Commission can see no good reason for altering the existing practice. The justification for extending the distribution of milk through milk-shops could only occur on the grounds of economy, and as no reduction in price to the consumer would result the Commission does not recommend any increase in the numbers of milk-shops. Frequent inspection of the premises of milk-shops is necessary, and it is highly important that adequate refrigeration facilities should be available for storing the milk. The Commission recommends that, in common with producer-vendors and private vendors, milk-shops should be required to retail only milk in containers sealed at the source of production or at the source of treatment.

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