RETAIL PRICES STRONG PROTESTS MADE
Strong protests against allegations at the conference of the Dominion Council of Commercial Growers that retailors throughout New Zealand were making excessive profits by buying goods at low prices and reselling at ceiling prices, were made at the annual conference of the New Zealand Federation of Retail Fruiterers and Greengrocers, which ended in Wellington yesterday. Delegates stressed that at present retailers were paying ceiling prices for goods of decidedly inferior quality, of which only; a very small proportion could be sold at ceiling prices if at all. One statement had alleged that cabbages bought at Is a bag were retailed at 3d a pound. That implied that all the cabbages were in good condition and were saleable, but in such cases the position was that only a small number of the cabbages were fit for sale. The selling of the few good cabbages at 3d a pound could not be considered excessive.
Retailers, it was stated, had paid up to 17s a cwt for cabbages, and still found only a small proportion saleable at any price. In support of this contention, cabbages grown by commercial growers and purchased this week in a Wellington city market at the ceiling price of 17s a cwt were displayed. Actually, not one of the cabbages was considered fit for resale. It had been suggested that retailers had purchased no tomatoes before the ceiling price was due to lift, and then bought in cheaply and sold at ceiling prices. Delegates gave a number of instances where tomatoes were not available due to commercial growers withholding supplies till the removal of the ceiling price. Officers elected were: President, Mr. J A. Stuart (Hamilton); vice-president, Mr. L. S Chanwai (Wellington): secretary. Mr. C. C. King (Auckland); council. Messrs. J. S. Roe and C. All Chee (Auckland), J. C. Kum and G. Nana (Wellington), H. R. Gallichan (Hamilton). W. Norman (Palmerston North). T. Louie (Westport), W. Bradshaw (Christchurch). Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 25, 29 July 1944, Page 5