Bananas And South Seas
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
Silliness
What An Examination of The Markets Discloses
A SENIOR officer of the NZ Marketing Department, Mr. F. S. Hunter, has been visiting Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, familiarising himself with the organisa tion of the banana industry in three territories.
According to Fijian Government sources, he promised an experimental pur chase of bananas in hand and quarter hand bunches to see how they travelled, although he pointed out that the Market ing Department preferred bananas in cases.
It appears that New Zealand might take, from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, a total of 50,000 cases of bananas per annum (of which Fiji’s share would be 40 per cent.) but this is dependant on shipping. The USS Go’s new refrigerated ship, “Tofua,” due on the run in 1951, may help the situation.
New Zealand’s Marketing Department buys bananas from the Fiji Government, and distributes them in New Zealand. The Fiji Government now pays the growers 6/6 and 5/6 per case; but, with cases, transport, packing charges, labour, wastage, etc., the Department pays more than twice those figures, FOB, Suva.
IN the old days, before we enjoyed the blessings of Socialism, the banana trade between the islands and NZ was in the hands of the trading firms. They bought the fruit from the growers, col lected it, shipped it, and distributed it to the consumers in New Zealand.
The-growers, comparatively, were better
off; good quality fruit got quick trans port: and, above all, the NZ consumers got an abundance of fruit at low rates.
But traders, shippers and fruit retailers made profits—they were even known, as a result of good management, hard work and thrift, to become rich—and this horrible social sin could not be permitted.
So, to-day, the trade is in the hands of the bureaucrats. Growers are no better off; and the prices paid by the NZ con sumers for a limited quantity of fruit are shocking. But the leisurely bureaucrats are happy in their well-paid jobs, and the accursed exploiters have been wiped out.
In Fiji, Mr. Hunter was informed that the planters would produce more bananas, if given an assured market. Mr. Hunter said that New Zealand could consume many more bananas, but he could give no guarantee, because of lack of shipping.
So there is an impasse, more or less complete.
In the old days, all these things were taken care of by the law of supply and demand, governed by competition, and no such silly situation could develop.