INTRODUCTION. 
A study of the marketing and distribution of meat in this 
country has to take account of four classes of goods. First there 
is the meat which has been bred on farms in Great Britain; 
secondly, and from a marketing point of view closely allied, 
is the beef imported ‘“ on the hoof ” from Ireland, Canada, or 
elsewhere, whether for immediate slaughter or for fattening; 
thirdly, there are the imported supplies—such, for example, as 
Dutch pigs—which reach this country as fresh-killed meat, and, 
lastly, there are the supplies of meat which, owing to the distance 
of the country of origin, are received in a chilled or frozen condi- 
tion. From the consumer’s standpoint, these classes can, for 
convenience, be reduced to two, namely, (1) fresh-killed meat 
and (2) chilled or frozen, the dividing line being the process of 
refrigeration. 
Of these classes, the trade in refrigerated beef, mutton and 
lamb forms the subject of the present Report and has been 
selected for description first, partly in order to form a back- 
ground for and a natural introduction to a complementary 
investigation into the marketing, in this country, of livestock and 
fresh meat, and partly because, owing to its high degree of 
organisation, it presents, in any event, a simpler descriptive task. 
The trade in refrigerated pork is not covered by the present 
study, but has been reserved for consideration as part of an 
investigation now proceeding into the marketing methods and 
problems of the pig industry in this country. 
Refrigeration implies something more than distant origin 
and condition of the meat on arrival; it usually implies other 
differences, including a difference in price. It is true that fresh 
and refrigerated meat do not constitute simple price-groups in 
themselves, but, in the price-scale, Scotch, English (including 
stores which have returned to the market as finished beef) and 
Birkenhead (i.c., Irish and Canadian) sides belong, for example, 
to the upper end of the price-table, whilst chilled and frozen 
belong to the lower. In times of shortage of chilled or frozen 
supplies, the price-differential is less marked, but it is, neverthe- 
less, a noteworthy factor as a rule. A further difference is that, 
with the exception of chilled beef, refrigerated meat can be held 
in cold stores, which form, as it were, a reservoir into which 
supplies can be conveniently diverted during times of excess and 
from which they may be withdrawn during times of shortage. 
This is, however, an advantage which, as time goes on, is tending 
to disappear, for the ideal condition, commercially, in which to 
bring meat to this country is chilled and not frozen and this, at 
bresent, implies consumption within five to six weeks of killing. 
Finally, careful grading gives the refrigerated-meat trade 
Some analogy to the package trade in other commodities. 
Carcases being graded according both to weight and quality, 
ay retailer can order his precise requirements from a wholesaler 
hy the mere mention of brand. quality and weight. In the 
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