New Guinea Cocoa
p. 59 · Read in the full issue
Effort to Combat Indifference of Australian Manufacturers
THE following letter, which is self-ex planatory, was sent, in December, to a number of leading confectionery manufac turers of Australia: ‘Although the Commonwealth Govern ment continues to pay a bounty on the production of cocoa in New Guinea, and although the New Guinea Administration is spending a good deal of money and effort in improving the quality of cocoa beans grown there, the trade is not making any thing like the progress that was hoped for.
Enquiries which we have made this week in Sydney indicate clearly that the main obstacle to the development of this desir able industry is the stubborn opposition of the big confectionery manufacturing firms of Australia to the introduction of New Guinea cocoa beans.
“We brought this matter under the no tice of Australian confectionery manufac turers over a year ago and we were in formed by them of numerous reasons (mainly based on the quality of the New Guinea product) why the N.G. cocoa beans could not be used in Australia. We took pains to circulate this information and we know that the most determined efforts have been made in New Guinea to overcome the early difficulties of this industry and pro duce a high-grade cocoa bean. But the total lack of encouragement being given to the New Guinea cocoa growers, in any shape or form, by the Australian manufac turers, threatens to strangle this industry at its birth.
“Accordingly, we are sending this letter to the leading confectionery manufacturers to inform them that, on behalf of the New Guinea cocoa growers, we propose to bring the whole position under the attention of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce and of the Commonwealth Government, and we are assembling various data in support of their plea that the Commonwealth Govern ment should take early steps to place a higher import duty upon foreign grown cocoa or take some other similar step to protect the product of the Australian terri tory.”
Yours faithfully,
R. W. Robson
Managing Director,
Pacific Publications Ltd.