Other butters found during the Surveys were Argentine, chiefly
in London and Birmingham : Siberian, chiefly in Birmingham and
Bristol ; Swedish and Finnish in the North ; Ukrainian, stocked by
one large multiple firm in all parts of the country; and Dutch and
French in London.
Butter made up into packets and sold under a brand name was the
staple type in dairies. It was also sold by about 30 per cent. of the
grocers, but generally in relatively small quantities ; in Non-Local
Multiples it was rare. It was most popular in London and Edinburgh.
5. Farm and packeted butters were generally about 2s. per 1b. and
other butters ranged from about 1s, 6d. to 2s. 0d., the most usual
prices being 1s. 84. and 1s. 94. The general order of price of the
various types of butter was Home Farm, Packeted, Danish (Finnish
and Swedish), New Zealand, Irish, Australian, Argentine, Siberian
and Ukrainian. It is to be noted that these prices refer to 1929.
Evidence of local preference is shown by the relative prices of
different butters. In the North and N orth-East, where Danish butter
predominated, it was sold on an average at 1d. or 2d. more than any
other type; in the South, where it was comparatively rare, it was
about the same price as New Zealand and Irish, and in the West it
was only slightly dearer on the average than these types.
6. In regard to the tendency towards localisation of markets, the
policy of multiple organisations, particularly those of national scope,
is of special interest. These firms generally stock butters from two
or three different countries and tend to standardise stocks throughout
the branches ; smaller firms and independent shops, on the other hand,
appear to confine themselves usually to the one or two types which
are most popular in the locality. Thus, in the Yorkshire area and in
Edinburgh, New Zealand butter was found in about 35 per cent. of
the national multiple branch shops and in less than 5 per cent. of the
other shops. In Bristol and South Wales, Danish butter was sold by
40 per cent. of the National Multiples and in London by 33 per cent,
while the corresponding percentages for other shops in these two
areas were five and four respectively.
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