AUSTRALIAN BUTTER

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 131, 7 June 1929, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN BUTTER

SOLD AS NEW ZEALAND

TRANSPORT SYSTEM CONDEMNED

(From "The Post's"* Representative.) ...... SYDNEY, 23rd May. Australian primary producers are •very concerned just now about the ' place which Australian butter holds in the London market, and they fear that it is losing ground.. It is not easy to justify such a belie j without knowing the inner history of butter marketing, but the fact remains that the butter factories are extremely restive. Their outlook has not: been improved by the report given in Melbourne the other by Mr. J. Proud, who addressed a ' 'conference of butter factory secretaries and managers. He said that he was convinced, after a full inquiry,' that the arrangements for export and transport were most unsatisfactory. Morethan that, Australian butter seemed to be losing its identity, and much of it was branded as New Zealand butter. Other butter went out into the market under English' wrappers, with a name of English significance. Mr. Proud said that he had'studied transport overseas, the quality of the butter on arrival at London, and the use of the Australian National brand in marketing. In the first place ,he was not impressed with the rough handling the butter received in ■ Australian ports. In many,casee the butter was damaged before it was placed '. on board the steamer. The whole process seemed to be slipshod. On arrival in London the transhipment by barges ! from the steamer to the wharf gave the boxes a most unsavoury appearance. . They were very dirty, and appeared to have been, standing in water, as the barges were 'frequently uncovered, i Some of the boxes had holes in them, and the butter was not prevented from touching the wpd by two thicknesses of- paper. 'There were no organised ' facilities for the examination of the : butter by Commonwealth officials in London. .'."'•• ; Dealing with the deterioration in transit, Mr. Proud gave examples of butter poorer in grade in London than iu 1' Australia. ' Some of the samples he saw in London -had texture like coarse. beef fat. He examined 734 samples of butter. Amongst these 620 had.'been graded as choice in Australia, \but only 321 could be graded as choice in London. Some of the samples displayed in shop windows in London were very poor. The fault lay in Australia. They should try and get better production from the factories. The official graders should not pass anything of faulty manufacture. Faulty manufacture occurred when factories could not handle all the; cream they received. These statements seem to be of particular interest to New Zealand producers. If Australian butter of poor quality reaches the London market, as Mr. Proud asserts, New Zealand's reputation will be at stake if that butter is sold as coming from the Dominion. Here is a matter that seems to. call for immediate inquiry on the part of the New Zealand Government, for New Zealand cannot risk a set-back in- London. New Zealanders arriving in Sydney are quick to notice the difference in the quality of the butter that is placed on the tables. It is coarser and has less -flavour than the New Zealand article. ■- Any New Zealander who has visited Sydney, therefore, will realise the danger that exists^