QUALITY DECLINING?

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 174, 25 July 1928, Page 10

QUALITY DECLINING?

N.Z. DAIRY PRODUCE. TENDENCY LAST SEASON. QUANTITY STRESSED TOO MUCH. (By Telecraoh.—Special to "Star.") RAWER A. this dav. That "quality first" should be the slogan of all associated in the production and manufacture of dairy produce for export, was urged strongly by an expert connected whh the dairy industry in Taranaki when interviewed vesterday concerning the indication siven by Mr. A. -T. Mills, of London, who is visiting Hawera, that a tendency exists among •Taranaki manufacturers to sacrifice quality to a certain degree for the sake of Quantity. The point stressed by Mr. Mill*, that it was absolutely necessary 'hat New Zealand should maintain and all tne time improve the quality of its dairy produce, was endorsed fully by the Taranaki expert. "Quality pays in the end,' he said. He referred to thp relationship between the New Zealand dairy farmers manufacturing butter and cheese and the great consuming public of Great Britain as the relationship of a trader with his customers. "Our common practice in obtaining goods for everyday requirements to make our purchases where we can depend on quality, and if we find we are unable to rely on a uniform standard from one particular source we elsewhere. We are very discerning in these matters, hut no more so than the coin-timing public nt Great Britain, who are the customers for our butter and cheese." Inquiries made of men engaged in the manufacture of a considerable part of the South Taranaki output resulted in information being obtained which substantiated the indication given by Mr. Mills respecting the tendency to allow quantity to interfere with quality. It is a fact, the reporter was informed, that the yield ha*- been the objective of mot-t factories. Thus has been marked during the season just concluded. In the previous year the Control Board afforded an incentive to high standard production by the award of Vid per lb premium on cheese securing superfine grading. One result was the wider adoption of pasteurisation, in an endeavour to make the article pure as prw-ih]p. <md the genera! effect of the premium was to stimulate the manufacture of the best quality chc*?s P . The conation of the premium last season removed that beia£ daqbtfal w%thar

a correspondingly high figure would ultimately be realised for the superfine article (some of which last season was sold at 10/ a cwt below the price obtained for first graded, the aim has been to produce the greatest possible quantity commensurate with a reasonable standard of quality from the milk supplied. Such a policy, it was stated, was tha outcome of competition among manufacturing companies, the respective directorates asking for the greatest possible yield in order that the maximum, of revenue should accrue to the suppliers. Discussing this pnase at length, the reporter was given the impression that while the decline in quality had not assumed alarming proportions, it was sufficient to call for very caretul consideration. Produce of certain textures. which may be manufa:;ured to meet tne demands of consumers in particular areas, has its market and commands the confidence of buyers. sut as a general principle the maintenance of quality on highest plane i- a vtttahy essential factor in holding the market fox New Zealand produce in the future. With cheese selling at 9d per .?. an extra yield of .030 per lb of buttert.it may mean a differtnee in the pay-out ■">: one-third of a penny, but the sv.'.v.n? for the additional yield d •••- r.-t a.v-vd with the principle "f bu:'..i : r.g tne future, if it entail*- any 1 <>: quality. The present -a utay *urn :•> failure and loss if it tvud- t • impair tae reputaT ion of the "Fern 1---a: H.'ana produce. "Rather than allow the reputation of the brand to be affected in the lightest degree." concluded one of the nianura--turer.-. "the producer won id be better advic-ed t.o accept slig.it iy .t mp. .-.e for tne present, and by c-upplymg a ;' :0 " duet of uniformly go-\l *•-.,« :.«lari. the name which wili hold the onier.ee of the buyer in the future. It i- >'p:*e obvious that our aim i:io'il-i a!-aays ee "quality first.'''