Serving The Public And The Producer

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31783, 13 September 1968, Page 12

Serving The Public And The Producer

YEW Zealanders eat more x ' eggs than any other people in the world—an average of 346 eggs a person each year. It is almost certain that the eggs now in your cupboard or refrigerator were graded and checked for quality by Combined Co-opera-tive Distributors, of Tuam Street, Christchurch. The C.C.D., as it is better known, keeps a close watch on egg quality and provides a central marketing and processing organisation. Thus it benefits both the producer and the consuming public. Early Company

Although the C.C.D. as it is known today did not start until 1946, it was in 1921 that egg producers in Canterbury decided to form an organisation to market their products. A public limited liability company started iri 1922, but like some other early producer co-operatives it was not particularly successful.

By 1942 the company was in a sounder position than had been the case in its earlier days. However, during this year deputations from Canterbury producers had several conferences with the Government on the future of egg marketing in the area. The C.C.D., Ltd, finally came into being during the war, and the original old company went into voluntary liquidation. The four egg floors which made up the central egg floor formed during the war had all joined the C.C.D. by the end of 1946, and C.C.D. as it is known today came into being. The main purpose of the Combined Co-operative Distributors organisation today is the merchandising of eggs. There are two very necessary prerequisites: to see that the eggs come in to the plant in Tuam Street as soon as possible after they are laid, and to see that they are despatched to the consuming public as quickly as possible. A major change in recent years has been the introduction of cartons, which protect the eggs from damage, and are easier and more convenient for shops to handle. The eggs sold in cartons may well have been laid only 24 hours before, and they are just as fresh as eggs sold loose. Great care is taken to

see that the public gets only eggs of top quality and appearance.

Egg producers must deliver eggs to the C.C.D. floor at least twice a week. This means that an egg laid on a Monday will be brought to the floor on Tuesday, and be graded, packed and sent to retail outlets the same day.

The longest delay is unlikely to be longer than 48 hours. This might be the case of an egg laid late on Friday, and which would not reach the market until Monday. However, the C.C.D. does at times operate on Saturdays as well as weekdays: this is the case at present, when the egg-pro-ducing season is at its peak. On a typical Saturday recently the C.C.D. worked 14 hours and a half to get eggs to the market in the shortest possible time. Graded A major producer will often bring eggs to the C.C.D. on his own vehicle. Immediately they arrive, the eggs are placed on a conveyer which carries them to the grading floor. As the eggs come in each shipment is recorded on a docket, giving the quantity sent in. The docket is “broken down” by the head girl on each grading machine so it shows the grades

of eggs received. At the end of each two-week period a cheque is prepared from these dockets and sent to the egg producer. When the eggs arrive at the grading machine, they are lifted out of their trays by suction cups on an arm, and pass along a line and into a small booth. Candling In this darkened booth sits a highly-skilled operator who watches the eggs closely as they pass over an extremely intense light. This process, known as “candling,” immediately shows up any eggs which have bloodspots or air bubbles inside, or any other faults.

Such eggs are immediately rejected and destroyed. The grading machine itself, into which the eggs pass next, divides the eggs into different grades by a system of hatches which open or remain closed according to the weight of the egg upon them. So precise is the grading process that the tolerance allowed is only one sixty-fourth of an ounce.

After grading the eggs are packed. Most are packed in cartons, but some are packed to be sold as loose eggs. After packaging the eggs, clean, graded for weight and checked for quality, are

loaded on C.C.D. trucks for delivery to retail outlets. Some shops, In fact, call for two deliveries of eggs a day, and the purchaser is always assured of top-quality fresh eggs.

Double-yolker eggs are not sold: they are usually used for pulp. Such eggs are removed during the grading process, and placed In a tray or “filler.”

From these, the eggs are passed through another candling booth before being thoroughly washed, sterilised and brushed in yet another machine. The eggs are then put through a machine which extracts the yolk and albumen from the shell. Snap-Frozen The yolk and the albumen pass into a container and through a fine sieve which removes any fine pieces of shell which might have escaped the previous removal process. After this the pulp is snap-frozen, and held In freezers until it is exported to Japan or the United Kingdom, or sold to local bakeries. There are only two eggpulping floors in New Zealand, one at Auckland and the other at the C.C.D. in Christchurch. Any surplus of eggs from areas in, for instance, Dunedin, Invercargill or Oamaru all come to the floor in Christchurch for pulping. A very close watch is kept on the quality of the egg pulp, and stringent tests for freedom from bacteria and for cleanliness are made by both the C.C.D. and by Government experts. Branch

The C.C.D. serves the whole of Canterbury and the West Coast. There is a branch in Timaru which processes eggs produced in that area, but most Canterbury eggs are produced in the Christchurch area. Producers sell eggs to the C.C.D. and are paid fortnightly. Producers are also shareholders in the holding company for the C.C.D., the Canterbury Poultry Producers Company, and any profit from C.C.D. operations is paid to the holding company which in turn distributes the profits to the shareholders—the producers.

At present the C.C.D. is processing about six million dozen eggs a year.