Bottled Milk For Residents Of Mount Maunganui

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 14929, 17 March 1949, Page 2

Bottled Milk For Residents Of Mount Maunganui

Raw Or Pasteurised To Be Available

Agreement Reached By

Council

(Times Correspondent)

Milk consumers at Mount Maunganui will, in the near future, be supplied only with bottled milk as the result of the decision of the Mount Maunganui Borough Council to adopt the recommendation of its Milk Committee. They will, however, have the choice of pasteurised or raw milk. In the Milk Committee's report furnished to the council the- chairman, Mr A. McFarlane, explained the circumstances leading to the proposed alteration in the method of supply. For some time past there has been agitation from both vendors and producers for the committee to agree for all milk produced to be sent to the Tauranga Mi'ik Company's treating house and for a bottled supply cf either pasteurised or raw milk to be obtained from that company, stated the report, which added that in the present system there had been many obstacles. Difficulties and Disagreements There had been repeated instances where both vendor and producer had run up against difficulties and disagreements concerning nominated quantities, hours of production and supply, the availability of adequate quantities at peak periods and the disposal of surpluses at other times.

At the present time, continued the report, there fire three producers who belong to an organisation known as the Mount Maunganui Milk Producers' Association and, in order to qualify for subsidies from the Mi k Marketing Division they have annually to satisfy that division and the Milk Authority that they can supply the needs of the population of the district. A nominated quantity of supply is fixed on by the division. In the case of Mount Maunganui it is 180 gallons per day. Some of the trouble at Mount Maunganui was occasioned by the fact that the Division would not agree to approve of varying nominated quantities for different times of the year, the report stated, and because the producers are only under guarantee to supply that quantitiy, they have not been prepared to sign any agreements of supply with the vendors in excess of this figure, although for a good portion of the year the vendors require a much larger gallonage. The need to obtain extra supplies from outside sheds had caused the wastage of time by the vendors, and meant that they were very late on the road. There were • many other difficulties. As a result of the failure of the committee to straighten out difficulties between vendor and producers, despite frequent meetings, a conference was held recently between these parties, the committee and the Director of the Tauranga Milk Company, and the proposal to supply and receive through the company discussed. Advantages of Change

Amcng the points included in those advanced in favour of the proposed change was one that the company would take the whole supply from all producers, thereby relieving them of the necessity to separate, and would guarantee to use any surplus supplies for the manufacture of ice cream or fresh cream.

The company would collect from the farms twice daily i'n the summer and once in the winter. The vendors would thus- cease having to collect direct from farms and be able to concentrate on deliveries. Consumers would have hygienically bottled milk and the choice of the raw or pasteurised product. The company, it was pointed out, tests all milk on receipt, thereby preventing any bad milk getting into the supply. Bottled milk would result in speedier deliveries from vendors and eliminate the chances of the mi'lk being affected by dust, dirt or unclean billies. The treating house undertook to arrange for a supplementary supply if that from the Mount Maunganui producers should at any time prove to be not sufficient. The milk