II. THE SPREAD BETWEEN PRODUCERS' AND CONSUMERS' PRICES

10

III. THE PRODUCER AND HIS MARKET:

(A) The development of a marketing sense

12

13

(B) The standardisation of produce

IV. FOOD DISTRIBUTORS: THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES AND PRIVI

(B) Road

(C) Post

VI. THE WHOLESALE STAGE:

The tendency towards large trading units

VII.--RETAIL DISTRIBUTION:

(A) The heritage of control

(B) Under-sized retail units and their effect on costs
(C) The consumer's responsibility

VIII.-CO-OPERATION:

(A) The case for co-operation

(B) The causes of past failures

(C) Future policy

(D) Credit

IX. THE COLLECTION AND PUBLICATION OF PRICE STATISTICS:

(A) The broadcasting of market intelligence

(B) The collection of statistics

X. THE MEDIA OF EXCHANGE

XI. THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS INVESTIGATION

INTERIM REPORTS.

The following Interim Reports of the Committee may be purchased directly or through any bookseller from the Sale Offices mentioned on the title-page :—

1. Milk and Milk Products. (Price 38.)

2. Fruit and Vegetables. (Price 3s.)

3. Meat, Poultry and Eggs.

4. Cereals, Flour and Bread.

(Price 58.)

(Price 38.)

MINUTE OF APPOINTMENT.

I hereby appoint

The MARQUESS OF LINLITHGOW;

Sir BASIL MAYHEW, K.B.E.;
Mr. A. W. ASHBY;

Mr. ERNEST R. DEBENHAM;

Dr. CHARLES M. DOUGLAS, C.B.;

Mr. PERCY A. HURD, M.P.;

Mr. ROWLAND R. ROBBINS, C.B.E.;

Mr. R. J. THOMPSON, O.B.E.;

Mrs. MARGARET WINTRINGHAM, M.P.;

to be a Committee to inquire into the methods and costs of selling and distributing agricultural, horticultural and dairy produce in Great Britain, and to consider whether, and, if so, by what means the disparity between the price received by the producer and that paid by the consumer can be diminished.

And I further appoint

The MARQUESS OF LINLITHGOW to be Chairman; and
Mr. A. W. STREET, of the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries, to be Secretary; and

Mr. F. GRANT, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries,
to be assistant Secretary to the said Committee.

(Signed) R. A. SANDERS,

13th December, 1922.

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

m (5)21296 Wt 20800-789 2250 1/24

A 2

PREFACE.

To Lieut.-Col. the Right Hon. Sir ROBERT A. SANDERS, Bt.,

SIR,

1. We have the honour to submit the following final Report, reviewing our investigations into the methods and costs of marketing and distributing agricultural, horticultural and dairy produce, and into the difference between the prices received on the one hand by the producer and paid on the other hand by the consumer.

2. We have presented in all four interim reports dealing with (1) milk and milk products, (2) fruit and vegetables, (3) meat, poultry and eggs, and (4) cereals, flour and bread. We have confined our enquiries to those farm products which are used for human food, because this course seemed to us to be in accord with the intention of our appointment and also because it would otherwise have been impossible to bring our investigations to a close within a reasonable period of time.

3. Since the commencement of our investigations we have held 71 meetings and heard evidence from 225 witnesses representative of all branches of the agricultural industry, and of various bodies of distributors and consumers. Only with their voluntary assistance has it been possible to secure adequate statistical and other data. We are also indebted to the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Agriculture for the complicated and difficult enquiries which they have undertaken on our behalf.

NOTE. The total expenses incurred by the Committee, excluding the cost of printing and publication of the interim and final reports, amount to 1,5571. 188. 7d. The cost of printing and publication of this report is estimated at 311. 10s. Od.

I. RECENT MOVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL

PRICES.

4. In common with practically all other commodities, agricultural products in Great Britain began to rise in price at the outbreak of war and continued to rise without intermission

until 1920. Costs of production rose also, and the enhanced prices of both agricultural produce and agricultural requirements being largely due to the increase in the currency, the better returns obtained by the farmer were to some extent apparent rather than real. It must be remembered, however, that the cost of living, and rates of wages, were for some time slower to advance than prices of agricultural produce. Moreover, in so far as the prices realised for any one crop rose in advance of the costs of production, the farmer received an advantage. On the other hand, Control, which was imposed at a later date, worked against the farmer by tending to check the rise in prices of most foodstuffs.

5. The market prices of most descriptions of agricultural produce reached their highest point in the month of April, 1920, and at the same time the wholesale prices of all commodities, as calculated each month by the Statist newspaper (Sauerbeck's index number), also reached their maximum. Subsequently, general wholesale prices of commodities began to decline, at first fairly slowly, then, towards the end of the year, very sharply, and the fall continued, with only one slight check in the middle of the year 1921, until the early months of 1922. On the other hand, the price index of agricultural produce fell rapidly at first, mainly owing to reductions in milk prices, but recovered later to the same point as had been previously reached in April, and on the whole there was only a comparatively slight decline up to the end of 1920. The percentage increase over pre-war prices in each year since 1915 and in each month since January, 1920, is shown in Table I., which also shows the corresponding changes in retail food prices and in the cost of living. It should, however, be noted that the basis of comparison is not the same in each case, and for this reason exactly parallel movement is not to be expected.

TABLE I.

AVERAGE PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN MARKET PRICES OF AGRI

CULTURAL PRODUCE, IN WHOLESALE COMMODITY PRICES,
AND IN RETAIL FOOD PRICES AND THE COST OF LIVING IN
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND SINCE 1915.