New cheese for home market

Press, 8 April 1978, Page 19

New cheese for home market

p A Hamilton Two new brine-salted cheese manufacturing units will be brought into production in the coming dairying season, the chairman of the Dairy Board (Mr A. L. Friis) told delegates to the South Auckland and Eastern Ward conference in Matamata. He said that in the last nine months the market opportunities for brine-sal-ted cheese varieties had increased to the point where manufacturing facilities were inadequate to meet the projected shortterm demand. “To meet this position, arrangements have been concluded to convert two Cheddar units to brine-sal-ted plants. Both will be commissioned during next season.

“One will be capable of producing up to 2000 tonnes Parmesan-type

cheese, while at the same time retaining a tall-back position in cheddar or similar types, should Circumstances dictate,” Mr Friis said. “The other will have a capacity of up to 1500 tonnes of Edam or a similar type of cheese. Capacity, will however, be increased beyond these two units to provide a total brine-salted cheese capacity of about 12,500 tonnes. He said that with a promising growth potential, and bearing in mind that there was a lead time of around two years to establish a totally new facility, there was close and regular .review of market projections of these varieties of cheese.

Arrangements were also proceeding for the production next season of a trial run of Swiss-type cheese, he said.