Edible Products. 



142 



The following is a letter on the subject received from Professor Dunstan 

 of the Imperial Institute :— 



Imperial Institute Road. London, November 24th, 1905. 

 Sir,— I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, No. 2,851 'J, dated 

 the 5th October, 1905, inquiring for information regarding the present market for 

 banana or plantain flour. The Imperial Institute has received a number of enquiries 

 upon this subject from various Colonies, and samples of the flour have been for- 

 warded for examination from Fiji and Seychelles. Within recent years banana 

 flour has been introduced into this country from the West Indies, and a limited 

 demand for the product has been created. It is used in conjunction with other 

 materials for the preparation of bread, invalid foods and other dietetic specialities. 

 The present consumption for these purposes appears to be only small, though it is 

 difficult to ascertain the exact amount, as the material is imported direct by the 

 firms interested and the quantity is too small for separate mention in the trade 

 returns. The Imperial Institute has been informed recently by a firm dealing in 

 banana preparations that the present consumption in this country does not exceed 

 50 tons per annum. Larger quantities are said to be used in the United States, but 

 the importations into that country cannot be ascertained from the official statistics. 

 It appears to be generally agreed that these banana preparations, flour, foods, etc., 

 will require extensive advertising if any large demand is to be created, and at the 

 moment very little is being done in this direction. At the present time £20 per ton 

 is being paid for supplies of banana flour suitable for the purposes already indicated, 

 but it is doubtful whether this price could be maintained in the event of large 

 consignments being placed upon the market, unless the demand for the products 

 could be correspondingly extended. The use of banana flour is at present restricted 

 to these special preparations, but there is little doubt that it could be sold for many 

 other manufacturing purposes if it could be placed on the market at a cheap rate. 

 It would have to compete in this case with other farinaceous material selling in 

 London at from £0 to £12 per ton, and it is a question for local consideration whether 

 a trade upon these terms would be remunerative. Brokers, who were consulted 

 upon this point, stated that if consignments of 50 tons or so per month could be 

 regularly supplied, they thought the material would meet with a ready sale and 

 quoted provisional prices of from £5 10s. to £8 per ton c.i.f. in London according 

 to quality. They stated, however, that the only way to make the material more 

 widely known amongst manufacturers who might be able to use it would be to 

 forward a small trial shipment of 20 to 30 bags of about -h cwt. each which could be 

 distributed to likely buyers for practical trials. By this means the possibilities of 

 the material would be determined and its commercial value definitely ascertained. 

 If further action is considered desirable, samples of desiccated bananas and banana 

 flour prepared in Ceylon should be forwarded to the Imperial Institute for exami- 

 nation and comparison with the products upon the market. The Imperial Institute 

 will be glad to be kept informed of any developments which may occur in Ceylon 

 in reference to this matter. 



I am, etc., 

 (Signed) Wyndham R, Dunstan. 



