Board Authorises Change In Winter Milk Deliveries

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28536, 15 March 1958, Page 4

Board Authorises Change In Winter Milk Deliveries

Afternoon and evening deliveries of milk from May 1 till August 31 were sanctioned by the Christchurch Milk Board yesterday. Deliveries will not be permitted before 2 p.m. Afternoon deliveries began on April 1 last year. A warning was issued that vendors found delivering before 2 o’clock would be prosecuted. The Milk Vendors’ Association applied for permission to deliver between 2 p.m. and 10 a.m. from April 1 to September 15.

Objecting to the application, Wright’s Dairy informed the board that each year fewer vendors wanted the change, and only five or six vendors supplied by it supported the application. The dairy would find difficulty in rearranging shifts for afternon deliveries, and it would be uneconomic to start at 2 p.m. Moreover, it was against the change because of deterioration of the milk.

Evening deliveries were instituted because of power shortages and vendors being asked to deliver in pitch dark to difficult places, said the chairman (Mr W J. Cowles).

“This is something" which is growing, and I don’t know whether it is desirable,” said Mr Cowles. “Our decision was that vendors had to be off the road by 9 a.m. Last year in the St. Albans dstrict, in which I live, I constantly saw one man delivering between 12.30 p.m. and 1 p.m. That is not ‘evening delivery.’ Our technical officer (Mr A. P. Millthorpe) thinks there is no advantage. There is, in fact, a disadvatage in evening deliveries if they are allowed early.” Mr W. E. Olds: Could we get the feeling of the vendors themselves by a plebiscite? Vendors’ Views

Thirty-five vendors, half the total, wanted evening deliveries, said Mr P. Caithness (vendors’ representative h The association understood that Wright’s Dairy was also in favour. Vendors said last year deliveries would be earlier than in the first year of the scheme. Milk was available and they were able to begin deliveries earlier. The vendors were not overriding the board’s permission. For the change to be satisfactory, vendors would have to begin work reasonably early to get their bottles back by 10.30 pjn. at the latest. Mr Cowles: What is the longest period any "Vendor takes to deliver his milk? Mr Caithness: Some on their own will take six hours. The last man cannot leave the station until two hours after the milk becomes available.

“It has been a great thing for the trade,” said Mr Caithness. “It has kept vendors in business. Vendors’ homes are awakened from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. every day of the week and, what with young families being disturbed, it is not long before there is trouble. Afternoon delivery has overcome that to a great extent by the men being able to get up at a reasonable hour in the morning. It should be here to stay.”

There had never been any complaints about the quality of milk being affected by afternoon deliveries by consumers, said Mr Caithness. Rfether the other way. They liked getting their milk in the evening instead of going out in the morning cold to collect it. “We don’t want to appear to be dictators,” said Mr Cowles. “If it is in the interests ’of the public, and our technical people think it is all right, we should support it. Bus I not in favour of 12.30 p.m. I will tell you that. If we find any vendor without his milk properly covered we will prosecute him.*’ They had to assume that all milk, in theory at least, had been kept covered, said Dr. A. Douglas (District Officer of Health). Those

who did not cover the milk were liable to prosecution. The board could soon straighten up on that. The Health Department’s view was that the earlier milk was delivered after bottling the better. There was a certain onus on the householders always to see that a proper container was at the gate for the bottle and that the milk was taken inside as soon as possible. “An Advantage” From the point of view of health and the keeping quality of the milk, the change to evening deliveries was an advantage, said Dr. Douglas. Vendors delivering in the afternoons covered the milk before leaving the depot but in the morning deliveries they waited till the sun was up before Covering, said Mr Caithness. “Is not milk in other countries treated and delivered during daylight hours?” asked Mr R. G. Stead. Mr Cowles: I don’t know. “You can take some steps to deal with any deterioration of milk because of exposure to sunlight and that more than overcomes any disadvantage in delivering milk 10 to 15 hours late.” said Dr. Douglas. In every city, thousands of “flatters” and “roomers” had to go to work early and, with morning deliveries, milk was left out all day, said Mr R. G. Brown. If deliveries were begun at 3 p.m or 4 p.m., the milk was 12 to 20 hours fresher when it reached the consumer. Both for the vendor and consumer, evening delivery was the better proposition. Mr Cowles: You suggest it would be a good thing in the summer to have evening deliveries? Mr Brown: Certainly. I have five flats and I know the milk is not picked up during the day. Flat owners could put refrigerated boxes at their gates for the benefit of their tenants, the chairman suggested to Mr Brown with a smile. Keeping Quality Milk now kept twice as long as it did 10 years ago, said Mr Caithness. Although the change was probably being sought for the benefit of vendors, the vendors felt that they should have the advantage of the improved keeping quality. “When you say you are entitled to the change in the winter, when the milk will keep longer, you say the evening deliveries should also be in the summer?” asked Mr Cowles. Mr Caithness said the vendors had discussed the change as a winter proposition. Mr E. R. Beere (Department of Agriculture) said that Waimate, Blenheim, and Westport had afternoon deliveries, but Blenheim would be going back to morning delivery when its new milk station was opened. “It appears that if we asked them to do it the whole year round, we would be doing wrong in allowing afternoon deliveries in the summer because milk deteriorates rapidly when subjected to sunlight,” commented Mr Cowles.

To meet the wishes of the majority of the dairies, the board agreed to permit afternoon and evening deliveries from May to the end of August.