CANNING OF APRICOTS

Evening Star, Issue 21639, 7 February 1934, Page 5

CANNING OF APRICOTS

OPENING Of FACTORY IN DUNEDIN TO SERVE HEW ZEALAND WHET Because of the quality-and quantity of apricots procurable from Central Otago growers, the financial interests behind the well-known brands of “Oak” and “K” products have chosen Dunedin for the establishment of an up-to-date factory for the canning of the fruit to serve the New Zealand market in competition with Australian-canned goods. Plant has also been installed for jam-making. The new premises, which consist of two stories of brick and reinforced concrete, are situated in Maclaggnn street, and were officially opened yesterday afternoon, when representatives or the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce and the Manufacturers’ Association paid a visit of inspection of the factory. All, the visitors were deeply impressed with the cleanliness and efficiency of the buildings and plant, which are so designed as to permit of the production of the finished article in the minimum space of time and without incurring any loss of quality or freshness in the fruit. On the arrival of the fruit at the factory, it is weighed at the door, and sorted carefully according to its ripeness. The aim is to maintain a standard maturity for all canning. After sorting the fruit is halved and stoned by an army of girls, and before there can be any question of canning it has to go through another careful process of selection and sorting into sizes, in order that sizes shall be uniform. No mixed sizes are allowed in cans. The next operation is washing, which is carried out by girls in spotless enamel basins. Having been washed, the fruit has to be by hand into the cans, which are then conveyed automatically to the syrupping machine, which automatically measures out the requisite quantity of syrup. . The whole of the syrupping plant comprises stainless steel ? the containers and reservoirs thus being saved from rusting or corrosion. The syrup is prepared from the best refined sugar from the Auckland Refineries, and is pumped into an overhead reservoir, which feeds the syrupping machine. This machine operates entirely automatically, so that there can be no mistake in the matter of the quantity of syrup in each can. Nor is there any spilling of the liquid. The open cans are then taken through an exhauster or cooker, the function of which is to exhaust all the air from the contents. This cooker is regulated completely by automatic temperature control. From the cooker the cans find their way to the closing machine, which hermetically seals each can without the use of solder of any kind. This machine is one of the most interesting in the plant, and will handle as many as sixty cans a minute. After sealing the cans are conveyed to the big cooker, where the final cook is carried out. This giant cooker is a cylindrical installation with a 1,000-can capacity and a temperature, control which enables the use of varying heats for different descriptions of fruit. After leaving the cooker the cans fall into an automatic conveyor, which takes them to the cooling tank, another formidable looking cylindrical tank, which holds just over 300 cans at one time. When they are properly cooled the cans are sent to the final process, the labelling. It is interesting to note that from the time the fruit is weighed at the factory door until it reaches the labelling machine, sealed in a can. less than half an hour has elapsed. Moreover, from the time that the open cans go to the syrupping machine they are never touched by hand until they are packed. The cans are all New Zealand made, and the cases that may be seen piled high in the store, which takes up the whole of the ground floor, are all made from New Zealand pinus insignis. The printing of the labels also is done in the dominion. The entire plant is electrically driven, and all the steam from the various machines is carried away through the roof by specially equipped ventilators. In the jam-making department there may be seen one of the latest mechanical inventions of all. It is a stoning machine, which automatically removes the stones from the fruit. The apricots fall into aluminium containers, and a plunger - knife descends and in one second removes the .stone. At an informal afternoon tea gathering, Mr E. F. Lord, manager of the factory, expressed keen pleasure on behalf of the company. at the interest the guests had shown in the works. Ho stated that the company realised that it had to come to Otago for good fruit of the kind they were canning, and it was very unfortunate that their first season’s operations should he spoilt by the disastrous frosts in Central Otago, which had so seriously atfactnd the yield of stone fruit. However, they hoped in the coming season to show what the industry in Dunedin could do. The .speaker also referred to the difficulties which confronted the canning industry in New Zealand as a result of the ' unfair competition represented by the sale of canned goods at under cost price by Australian canneries, which had the benefit of heavy Government subsidies. The canning industry in New Zealand was of great importance to the community, and in Dunedin promised to be a great asset, and be thought that it was entitled to some assistance from the Government, which would have the effect of combating the unfair competition to which the local industry was subject. Exported goods at less than cost was morally and financially wrong, he contended, and some effort should be made by the Government in New Zealand to assist the dominion industry to overcome it.

Mr W. H. Brent (president of Ihe Chamber of Commerce) replied on behalf of the visitors, and expressed the general admiration which was felt for the up-to-date and attractive premises which had just been inspected Speaking of tlie new venture. Mr Janies Hogg (president of the Manufacturers’ Association) said that the factory represented a notable addition to the valuable industries of Otago. It had been erected for the canning of Central Otago fruit, and would have the effect of giving growers a further assured market. If more encouragement were given to the iocal fruit preserving industry . a greatly-increased quantity of Otago fruit would be canned and sold in New Zealand, thus limiting the importation of Australian canned fruits. The company, said the speaker, was to ’be congratulated on the efficient automatic plant that had been installed. The operation of 'such a complete automatic line of processing was a direct reply to the criticism, of inefficiency sometimes levelled against industry.