Double cream for your pudding?

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 32

Double cream for your pudding?

The cream on your Christmas Pudding this year may not be quite like Grandma’s.

Last week the Canterbury Dairy Farmers, Ltd, launched 80,000 packs of its newest product, Double Cream, on to the market.

Although popular in Europe, this is the first time the product has been seen in New Zealand. The cream is a thick, rich alternative to ordinary whipped cream from the bottle, and the company says it can be used on anything from scones to coffee.

The launch is the end of a four-month investigation, which included supplying free samples to the public and testing individual reaction with questionnaires. The general manager of the company, Mr Geoff Lorrigan, said most of the people who came to sample the cream were traditionally heavy cream users, and most were in the over-50 age group. “The majority saw it as something for a special occasion,” he said. “Devonshire Double Cream”, as it is called, contains a butter fat content of 48 per cent, compared with the 40 per cent content in ordinary cream, and no added sweeteners. The final recipe was found after investigating a variety of British formulas.

“It’s really a very British product, so we gave it a British name,” said Mr Lorrigan. The cream comes in 150 g twin packs, similar to the company’s Dairy Cream, and will sell from the delicatessen shelves of supermarkets at $1.39 a pack. It has been supplied to

supermarkets in Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill.

“It’s the first time cream has really made its mark in the supermarket, as it has always been the property of milk vendors and dairies,” said Mr Lorrigan. “Cream sales have been falling in the last six months, and ice cream has taken over a large part of the market, this is one way we are responding to that competition, as well as responding to a consumer demand for the product.” Mr Lorrigan thinks two of the main attractions of Double Cream are its refrigerated shelf life of 12 to 16 weeks, and the convenience of the package. “You can always have it on hand and there is no wastage.” The company, in conjunction with the Dairy Board, is looking at the possibility of exporting the product. Dairy food Canterbury Dairy Farmers, Ltd, have just launched a new dairy food called “Smooth’n’creamy.” The company hopes to break the market monopoly held on dairy food by an Auckland firm which produces Swiss Maid dairy desserts. The dairy food, which is packed in 150 g plastic pottles, comes in four flavours — chocolate, caramel, banana and chocberry. Milk Also in the dairy line, the New Zealand Milk Board has released “Trim Milk” for a trial period in Christchurch. The board’s general manager, Mr Hamish Turnbull, said the new lowcalorie product is an improved non-fat milk with a

better taste. The success of the milk will be evaluated after six months and a decision made whether to sell it nationwide.

Mr Turnbull said Christchurch was chosen for the initial launch because the city has a high level of nonfat milk consumption.

“The product is available to more than 100,000 householders in standard 600 ml bottles delivered as part of the home distribution service.”

Previously, people have not bought non-fat milk because of its thin and watery taste, he said. Trim Milk was formulated by increasing the non-fat milk solids and homogenising.