H.—30

Investigations made recently in Great Britain indicate that the per capita consumption of butter is highest in the high-income groups and shows a fairly regular increase as the income-level rises. Consumption of cheese, however, appears to increase as income rises in the lower- and middle-income groups, but falls sharply when the high-income levels are reached. If these investigations are to be taken as fairly representing the consumption trends throughout Great Britain, it might reasonably be contended that generally increasing prosperity will not necessarily bring about a marked increase in cheese consumption. The investigations referred to above were carried out by the Rowett Research Institute, and the following figures have been taken from tables appearing in Sir John Boyd Orr's report of the investigations entitled " Food, Health, and Income." The figures show the classification of the population of the United Kingdom by income groups, together with the average weekly expenditure per head in each group for butter and cheese : —

IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCEDURE OF MARKETING NEW ZEALAND BUTTER AND CHEESE. 1. Greater regularity in arrivals of consignments in London, Avonmouth, Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow. 2. Extension of direct shipments to East Coast United Kingdom ports, particularly Newcastle and Hull. 3. Increased expenditure on sales promotion and general publicity. In this connection the expenditure for the current season under these heads has been increased by approximately £40,000. ADVERTISING, PUBLICITY, AND SALES PROMOTION. The maintenance of an effective publicity policy in Great Britain in respect of New Zealand butter and cheese is essential in order to keep the Dominion's dairy-produce to the forefront in a highly competitive market, and the Department, in carrying out this important feature of its duties, aims at obtaining the utmost value and results from the funds expended for advertising purposes. It has been decided to extend the publicity, advertising, and sales-promotion activities of the Department with a view to providing greatly increased facilities for widening the distribution of New Zealand dairy-produce in the United Kingdom. The following is a brief record of the advertising and publicity work carried out during the year, which indicates the various methods of publicity adopted and the types of advertising used : — 1. The Retail Trade. Experience has proved that, with a limited expenditure for publicity purposes, which precludes the adoption of nation-wide advertising devoted directly towards consumers, the most effective point of contact is the retail shop, and in pursuance of this policy the Department has concentrated its efforts principally on the retailer in an endeavour to secure his good will and co-operation. This retail advertising includes — (а) Supplying window and counter display material, which is sent on request free of charge to retailers in parcels, each containing sufficient material for a reasonable display in an average shop : The distribution of this material to retail shops during the year amounted to 28,700 parcels. In addition to this standard material the Department has had prepared a comprehensive range of bigger and more elaborately designed show-pieces to meet the demand of the larger shops and departmental stores for assistance in staging special displays. This type of material is supplied on loan only . (б) Retail canvassing by representatives of the Department: The main object of this canvassing is to induce the shopkeepers to stock our produce, and it has been found in many instances that this system of personal contact has been effective when other advertising methods have failed. At present the canvassing is conducted by a supervisor and four travellers. London and the south of England is covered directly by the Dairy Sales Division at St. Olaf House. Other districts are covered by travellers, each of which has his own district. One serves Scotland, another

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, _ . . Estimated Estimated Population Expenditure per of Group. Head per Week on Group. ! Income per Head per Week. Numbers. Butter. Cheese, centage. d. d. 1 .. .. .. 4,500,000 10 Up to 10s. .. .. 2-1 1-0 II .. .. 9,000,000 20 10s. to 15s. .. .. 4-7 1-4 III .. .. .. 9,000,000 20 15s. to 20s. .. .. 5-6 1-7 IV .. .. .. 9,000,000 20 20s. to 30s. .. .. 6-8 2-0 V .. .. .. 9,000,000 20 30s. to 45s. .. .. 8-0 2-4 VI .. .. .. 4,500,000 10 Over 45s. .. .. 10-1 2-1