EXPORT CHEESE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 149, 27 June 1930, Page 14

EXPORT CHEESE

THE QUALITY PROBLEM

PRODUCERS CRITICISED/

DAIRY DIVISION'S

DEFENCE

The quality of New Zealand cheese exported has for some time past been : the subject of much correspondence in the Press*, 'and muck debate in the ouimeils oE New Zealand dairydom. Complaints from British distributing firms have been many, 'and some of the criticisms from the United KiDgdom have been trenchant. Mr. Singleton, head or the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture, deali with the subject at the great National Dairy Association meeting at Hamilton yesterday. He referred to his recent visit to England to specially investigate the complaints made as to the quality of the cheese, and to his addresses to members of the dairy industry on his return to the Dominion. In opening his remarks he said that in checking up in the United Kingdom complaints of cheese quality, the brand on the cheese was of great importance. Tho noting of these brands had shown on occasions that the complaints* were wrongly made against New Zealand cheese. "I saw a complaint investigated (he said) in a way that convinced the person making the complaint that he had done an injustice to a certain importer and to a certain brand of New Zealand cheese." IGNORED ADVICE. But for all that he received complaints respecting immaturity in New Zealand spring cheese shortly after his arrival in England. These complaints were so numerous -that he deemed it advisable to cable to Wellington recommending warming curing rooms in spring, stressing proper "cooking" of the curds, and caution- | ing against oversalting and tight packing of cheeste in the crate. "I have yet to hear of a dairy company (he said) which warmed its curing room last spring, and it would appear that if any move is to be accomplished in this direction it can only be effected by the bringing in of a regulation. The extra half per cent, or ?o of shrinkage is at present too big a hurdle to expect dairy companies to surmount voluntarily, while general conditions with respect to competitive yields and marketing incidents remain as at present." WHERE EXPERTS DIFFER. Mr. Singleton, in' dealing with the trouble of "opennes3" in cheese, remarked that it had been contended by the chemist of the South Taranaki Federation that "the grading is a factor in connection with openness, inasmuch as the margin of points for the various grades is so narrow as to have, in his opinion, 'tended to lead cheestemakers astray.' "Generally, the Dairy Division overlooks attacks, but this and other accusations which have lately come from such a responsible body as the South Taranaki Federation, through its chemist, call for reply. The stystem of classifying and pointing of cheese is well known to cheese factory managers, and to many assistants throughout the Dominion, as well as to overseas buyers who purchase on the basis of the grade note. Many managers and assistants when participating in grading competitions grade cheese very close to, if not identical with, the official pointino'." ■Mr. Singleton showed what was done in arading in Canada and Denmark in.proof of the high standard of grading cheeste an New Zealand. He quoted the buyers opinions of the grade as indicated by their market values for the cheese. /FAULTY MANUFACTURE. Mr. Singleton said it would be realised by "all fair-minded people interested in our cheese industry" that in the manufacture of over eighty thousand tons of. cheese there would be maliy minor irregularities. Some "managers, rwh6 are endeavouring to make good "cheese, will, at times, unintentionally .vary from the mean and get cheese evidencing the effects o£ too much or too little acidity, or of too much or too little moisture. These variations may be due to one or more ot a number of causes. The competent factory manager examines his cheese week by week with a view to determining the corrections in" manufacture necessary to keep the quality as uniformly satisfactory ■is .possible. Other managers have greater variations in the acidity and moisture of their'cheese, and complaints are made that i the body'of the cheese shows defects. Such' variations are not unknown in the cheese of other countries, but in the interests of the New Zealand cheese in-, d'usrtry they should be minimised as much as possible. ■ The complaints were analysed and causes explained, Mr. Singleton expressing the opinion that as managers become more experienced in the manufacture of standardised cheese these variations might be expected to decrease, and as market conditions became more normal less complaint ; might-be-reasonably expected. QUALITY SACRIFICED. "There are some companies," Mr. Single- ! ton continued, "which are endeavouring to' make no ' higher, quality than a passable first grade. Some of these recognise that they could improve their quality considerably were they not so anxious .to I obtain a yield above the average. A number of our' major complaints from London this season refer to the cheese ent forward by such companies. "From the viewpoint of gaining a good reputation for New Zealand's standardised cheese on the markets of the United Kingdom it is unfortunate that, the companies referred to were making- a standardised cheese. Such deliberate action will doubtless have the effect of causing some of the traders to give a preference to full cream cheese. "During the past season some vejy inferior standardised cheeses were received at the grading store. These were in a number of instances doubtless intentionally made of high water content. _ "Some of these cheeses were so interior that the Dairy, Division warned a number of managers that if improvement were not effected, the cancellation of the manager's certificate would be considered. In some instances it is believed that the company was more or less responsible tor the line of procedure adopted by the manager. DRASTIC MEASURES. "A regulation has been drafted and submitted for approval giving the Director of the Dairy Division power., after mating all necessary representations to a company,'to cancel its certificate ot registration for the factory i£ the company persists in intentionally making low quality produce. This would mean, in effect, that if a registration of a standardised milk cheese factory were cancelled the company would at the same time be given a registration for a whole milk cheese factory or for a creamery, at its option. It is hoped that the possibility of such cancellation will deter companies from intentionally manufacturing produce which tends to prejudice the Dominion s output. Mr. Singleton returned to criticism oi comparative statements attributed to Air. P O Veale, chemist to the South Taranaki Dairy Federation, relative, to the quality of New Zealand cheese. • , LOWERING PRESTIGE. "Dairy companies intentionally making a mediocre quality of cheese doubtless consider that such pays them best, Air. Singleton continued. "It has to be admitted that some" of the present marketing of dairy produce and accouiitmg to many dairy companies does not show the necessary premium in price for best quality. Nevertheless the exporting of too much poor quality appears to be having the general effect of lowering the prestige of New Zealand cheese." Pasteurisation was dealt with in its relation to market returns for cheese. Complaints had been made by the trade of cheese that bad been made from non-pas-teurised milk or where pasteurising only a portion of the milk was in practice. I saw some of those cheese when in | the United Kingdom," said Mr. Singleton, "and one such brand was then a byword of the trade, and in my judgment quite rightly so. Another of our large companies whose directors have assiduously eulogised tho merits of its non-pasteur-ised cheese has this reason been petting more unfavourable reports, anrl wit h_ respect to this brand one of the principal