Butter Or Ghee?

Dilemma For Fiji Dairy Industry

Suva, Oct. 27.

rE three-sided butter war has ended.

The Rewa factory will continue to produce butter instead of turning over to ghee. The Government will be asked to allow the Rewa factory to charge a price closer to that permitted for im ported New Zealand butter namely, 2/7 per pound.

The parties interested in the war were the suppliers of milk to the dairy factory, who objected strongly to the local fixed price of 2/- per pound and announced that, if the price was not raised, the factory would make the more profitable ghee (which is in strong demand by the Indian population) instead of butter; the directors of the Rewa Co-operative Dairy Company, who took no early part in the controversy; and the European, Euro nesian and some Fijian communities, who eat butter, and want it to remain at as low a price as possible.

The Fiji Price Controller, on October 23, raised the local butter price to 2/1 and 2/2, according to district. The dairy sup pliers insisted that that was not enough.

The Rewa Company thereupon began to advertise for containers for ghee, which it proposed to market.

Then the directors stepped in. After consultations with the Government, they announced in the “Fiji Times”: “The Company wishes to announce that no statement that the company in tends to cease manufacturing butter was authorised by the Directors. The Com pany intends to manufacture butter as in the past.”

The Directors will now appeal against the price fixed by the Controller.