CHILLED BEEF

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 147, 17 March 1933, Page 12

CHILLED BEEF

Shipment to England

SATISFACTORY RESULT

Condition of the Meat

ENGLISH CABLE QUERIED

Dominion Special Service.

Masterton, March 16. Cabled advice that the experimental shipment of chilled beef sent Home by the Port Fairy has arrived in satisfactory condition has been received by T. Borthwick and Sons, Ltd. The cable adds that the shipment was not profitable commercially, however, as the prices were -low owing to an excessive supply of Argentine and Brazil chilled beef. Commenting on the London Press cablegram regarding the shipment, Mr. P. Borthwick, a director of the firm of' Borthwick and Sons, was inclined to question the statement as to mould. It was quite possible, he said, that some forequarters were affected, but hardly to the extent indicated. Someone, he observed, had apparently got hold of the wrong end of the stick. The Commonwealth and Dominion Line, which was responsible for transporting the shipment, has also received a satisfactory cable, in which it is stated that a luncheon had been held and the beef had eaten very well, both hot and cold. Mr. I*. Borthwick expressed keen satisfaction with the results of the shipment when interviewed by "The Dominion” to-day. The main point was that the beef had arrived Home in good condition, he said, and shown it was possible to successfully ship the chilled beef from New Zealand. It was unfortunate that it had struck a poor market, but that was only a detail. Questioned as to the next move, Mr. Borthwick said that another experimental shipment would be arranged following full consideration of the detailed reports ion the one just carried out. He was rather hopeful that with one more shipment it would be possible tn show that exporting chilled beef was satisfactory commercially. Mr. Borthwick said he was very keen now to make a shipment of hindquarters only. He was satisfied they would be able to stow them. In the experiment just carried out they had acted on the advice of London experts and included a number of forequarters for stowage. When the next shipment would be carried out he was unable to say. The winter was not the time for an experiment of this nature as the beef was not available. If the market were bar'e. as it appeared to be now, that would delay matters somewhat also. However, he was confident that another shipment would be put through before long. “I must say we have killed beautiful beef at Walngawa this year,” Mr. Borthwick said, “and much better than ever before. It seems to be much younger.” Mr. Borthwick said that he was obtaining data from abroad as to the best type of cattle and the best _ feeding methods for the chilled beef industry. He was hopeful himself that farmers would find they could run their cows on hill country and graze the calves on their good land. The calves cou d be weaned at nine months and would be ready for the butcher at two years. “CONDITION MODERATE” Report from London (By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright.) London, March 15. The Port Fairy’s New Zealand chilled beef arrived in moderate condition. Some of the quarters were good, but many were affected with lilac ’ mould, necessitating considerable trimming before they would be saleable. Australian and Argentine experts were much interested in the consignment. They considered the quality admirable, but stated that lack of experience was apparently responsible for the faulty condition of the beef, despite the fact that it occupied less time in transit than the Port Fairy’s last Sydney shipment, which was satisfactory. From this it is deduced that the handling at the source and not. the time taken in transit is the vital factor. A South African shipment of chilled beef arrived simultaneously with the Port Fairy’s. The quality of the beef was moderate, but the consignment carried well. /