BRANCH BAKERIES.
Various difficulties attach to a gigantic bread bakery which are not apparent in the working of any other commercial concern of similar size, and chief amongst these is that of rapid and cheap delivery. The perishable nature of bread and the ease with which it is injured by crushing make carriage by railway impracticable, while combined with these difficulties is the fact that the majority of bread customers desire to have it as soon after it is baked as possible. All these disadvantages combine to limit the distance within which a bakery can operate successfully to a radius of about twelve miles, and even on the outer edges of that radius it is doubtful if the cost of delivery does not counterbalance the saving caused by larger production. Yet the advantages of having bread baked by a large Co-operative organisation, instead of by many small ones, are obvious. In the first place, the large buyer has the advantage of buying all the raw materials used at rock-bottom prices: he has the advantage also of a wider knowledge of the fluctuations of a market notorious for rapidity of rise and fall, and this expert knowledge enables him in normal times so to average the cost of flour used that it is always at the lowest average possible.
It can be easily understood, therefore, that Co-operators, struggling with adversity and yet desirous of providing Co-operatively-baked bread for their members, should turn to the U.C.B.S. for help.
In this way there had come to the directors within recent years numerous calls for help. Unfortunately, the majority of these arrived at a time when it was impossible to give the help desired. The first of these calls came from Ireland. In and around Dublin there were several small societies, having a combined membership of somewhere over two thousand. The Dublin Industrial Society, after unsuccessfully endeavouring a few years earlier to get the Baking Society to help in the financing of a bakery in Dublin, had gone ahead with the erection of a bakery for themselves, but it had never been very successful. The Society itself was not too successful for a time, owing to the fact that the members were not pulling very well together; and indeed, at one period during the early years of the war, it seemed to be in danger of collapsing altogether. The bakery was not very successful, because the quality of the bread which was being produced left something to be desired, and this again was due in some measure at least to the fact that the men employed did not seem to realise that there were some operations in connection with bread baking which could not afford to wait on the convenience of anyone if disastrous results to the quality of the finished product were not to accrue. On more than one occasion one or other of the foremen in Ravenhill Bakery went down to Dublin to give the Co-operative bakers there the benefit of his expert advice.
Finally, an invitation came from Dublin, asking that representatives from the management of the Baking Society should attend a meeting of representatives from five societies in and around that city, with a view to taking over and working the bakery belonging to Dublin Industrial Society in the interests of Co-operators in and around the city. The members of the board discussed the question in all its bearings—social, political, and financial. They recognised that the cause of Co-operation in Dublin was much in need of a helping hand, and they were also well aware of the difficulties from a trade point of view which would confront them, but they resolved to attend the conference. They suggested, however, that representatives from the executive of the Co-operative Union, the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society, and the Belfast advisory committee should also be invited.
At the same time, a request for the erection of a branch bakery was received from Enniskillen Society and several agricultural societies in the neighbourhood of that town, and the deputation took advantage of the opportunity which their visit to Dublin gave them to visit Enniskillen also. The information gained in the course of this visit was discussed at a special meeting of the board, which was held on 23rd August, when it was resolved, in the interest of the Co-operative movement generally, and in view of the success which had attended other efforts, to place the subject on the programme of business for the quarterly meeting, with a recommendation from the board that they be empowered to establish branch bakeries in Ireland. When the recommendation came before the quarterly meeting of the members, Mr Gerrard explained that there were a number of small associations of Co-operators in various districts in Ireland who were anxious to use Co-operatively-produced bread, but who could not be expected to produce it for themselves. They were situated so far from Belfast that they could not be supplied economically from there, and the only other alternative was that small branch bakeries should be opened in these districts. Already negotiations had taken place, but before the members of the board went further, they wished to know whether the delegates were prepared to continue the policy of good work which had been begun at Belfast. The recommendation of the board was approved by a very large majority of the representatives of the societies present at the meeting, in opposition to an amendment which laid down the proposition that “no new bakery be erected in Ireland until definite details had been submitted for approval to an ordinary or special meeting of the Society.”
After some further inquiries had been made, the board as a whole gave further consideration to the question at a special meeting which was held on 27th November 1917. At this meeting it was stated that in and around Dublin there were ten societies within a radius of twenty miles, whose capital amounted in the aggregate to about £3,000. Dublin Society were willing to dispose of their bakery for £2,000. Only a meagre response had been given, however, to inquiries as to the amount of trade which was likely to be obtained from these ten societies, but the opinion was expressed that if the branch was once established the trade would be sure to come in time. Reference was made at this meeting to the lethargic state of the Co-operators of the district, and to the need which existed to give the movement a lift out of the weak state into which it had fallen. All the members of the committee who had visited the district were impressed with the fact that a good field for Co-operative work existed, provided that good management was given. The committee expressed agreement that, given normal conditions, there were reasonable prospects of the success of a branch established at Dublin, but they were divided on the question of whether the purchase should be made at that time, and remitted the decision on that point to the whole board.
With respect to the proposal to establish a branch at Enniskillen, the members who had visited the district were in agreement. There was in the district a nucleus sufficient to warrant placing a branch there, but no bakery was available, although a building capable of being made into a bakery could be purchased. The restrictions placed on the use of building material and on the supplying of machinery placed an embargo on going ahead at the moment, however, and they must wait until the war was over.
Mr Young, the manager, spoke strongly in favour of rendering help to Dublin Society; but he pointed out that for some time, at least, there would be little surplus if any, although when the district was penetrated thoroughly with Co-operative principles there would come ample compensation for the initial sacrifices. He thought, therefore, that it was the clear duty of the Baking Society to take it in hand. The board, however, was very evenly divided on the question, five voting for making no recommendation to take over the Dublin bakery meantime, while six voted in favour of making such a recommendation. With respect to Enniskillen, however, the board were unanimous that a branch should be established there as soon as possible, and agreed to recommend that this be proceeded with at the end of the war. At the quarterly meeting held in December, however, the proposal to take over Dublin Society’s bakery and establish a branch there was defeated, although that to establish a branch at Enniskillen was approved. How much the situation which had developed in Dublin and neighbourhood in the spring of 1916 had to do with the decision of the delegates it is impossible to say, but undoubtedly the political situation when combined with the influence of the known apathy towards Co-operation of the people of Dublin and the financial risk with no sure prospects of recovery weighed with the delegates when coming to the decision they did.
Since then premises have been acquired at Enniskillen, on a site quite near to the premises of the S.C.W.S., and the whole position has been surveyed thoroughly, but no definite steps to erect a bakery there have yet been taken as the cost of building materials has been found prohibitive.
Shortly after the outbreak of war the U.C.B.S. became shareholders to the extent of £1,000 in the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society, and at the quarterly meeting of members, which was held in December 1918, they took up 100 one pound shares in the Enniskillen Co-operative Milling Association, a Co-operative association which has been formed to establish a meal mill at Enniskillen.
So far we have been considering only the establishing of branches of the Baking Society in Ireland, but requests for branches were received at various times from widely distant parts of Scotland as well. In particular, just at the time when a final decision was arrived at on the question of taking over Dublin Society’s bakery, a request was received from the neighbouring societies of Leadhills and Wanlockhead that the Baking Society should take over and work a bakery in Leadhills for the purpose of supplying these two societies with bread. The master of works was sent to inspect, with the result that, later, the board were empowered to open a bakery at the place they deemed most suitable for supplying the trade of the district. Like every other building scheme, this of theirs was hung up during the war; but after careful consideration it was decided that a bakery should be established in Leadhills, and this has now been done. An application was received from Kirkconnel Society about the same time as that from the Leadhills district, and it was thought at first that one bakery might be erected which would suffice to serve both districts, but an inspection of the road connecting the two places showed that if this was not impracticable it would be at least dangerous, and the idea was abandoned. Nothing further has been done yet with respect to a branch at Kirkconnel.