BUTTER QUALITY.

Franklin Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 23, 26 February 1936, Page 6

BUTTER QUALITY.

ENGLISH EXPERT’S OPINION. NEED FOR CONSISTENT IMPROVEMENT. All dairy factories manufacturing creamery butter in New Zealand have been circulated by Mr W. M. Singleton, Director of the Dairy Division, Department of Agriculture, as follows : We have received a letter dated 17th January last from Mr F. H. Taylor, inspector of New Zealand dairy products in the United Kingdom, on “Butter Quality,” extracts from which we believe will be of interest to all companies in New Zealand manufacturing butter for export to the United Kingdom. Mr Taylor's letter includes the .following comment: — “Speaking in broad and general terms, we appear to have arrived at the stage where we have got to decide just what is to be the outstanding character of our butter, and, having decided this point, try to evolve a technique of manufacture which will bfest suit that class of' butter, I feel I can say without hesitation that a fairly, large quantity of our butter is arriving in Great Britain to-day in what may be termed a flat and uninteresting condition, and in making use of these terms I do so from the standards which may be adopted by the technician and not by the consuming public. This may be deemed to be a condemnation of these butters, but here again I feel that there is room for some qualification of this statement, and, apart from this flat condition being a fault, it may also be considered by some to be a-virtue.

What Some Interests State. “1 am aware that there are those in. London whose interests are very closely, if not wholly, allied to the quality of New Zealand butter, and who would unhesitatingly say that they do not wish any change to be made in our butter in so far as milder flavour is concerned, and that a flat, neutral type of butter satisfies their requirements best. They state that it is unnecessary for our butter to have any outstanding characteristics, and so long as the housewife, who generally speaking, takes what is given her provided it is not objectionable in flavour, has no complaints, they are satisfied with our butter as it is arriving here to-day.

“The difficulty lies in deciding who shall be the correct judge of tho standards adopted. This is no easy matter, and certainly not one which can be passed over lightly. I appreciate that there are those who will say that, given a large quantity of product and a uniformly standardised, article, the public will lie led to adopt that standard willy-nilly. “Whilst we are importing- large quantities of butter into this country the supplies from other countries offer very much greater variety and selection in regard to taste and character. We may, I think, accept it that the flat character of our butter is brought about by the treatment of our cream, and is in nowise an inherent characteristic of New Zealand butter. The mechanical processes introduced into bur factory system during the past few years, plus our system of neutralisation of the cream, has resulted in our butter having excellent ! keeping qualities, and if not carried to excess will produce a butter which has, beyond question, built up a reputation in this country for a very high-grade article. The question now arises as to whether we have gone far enough along these lines, and whether we are introducing systems which will defeat their own objectives by giving

Soviet Improves Quality. us a butter that has lost its true butter character and become little more than a standardised fat minus butter flavour. We may be safe in working along these lines, 'although as recognised graders of this product we may regret the departure from the oldtime standards; but he would be a bold man who wouid emphatically state upon what lines the character of the butter from the .world’s supplies will be based in the very-near future. “To-day, for example; Soviet butter is going ahead in leaps and bounds in regard to quality. I am informed that the system of manufacture in that country is based upon our own, and, moreover, that they are contemplating purchasing machinery for treating butter similar to that used in New Zealand . Thus it may be assumed that the character.of their butter will in the near future be very similar to our own. Even to-day I have examined Soviet butter which could hardly be distinguished from fmest-quality New Zealand butter, although it lacked uniformity . Then we •'have tho case of Australia* to consider. There are a number of folk to-day, and some of them in a fairly large way, who will tell you that they definitely prefer many Australian brands of butter on account of its fuller flavour. Nevertheless, I am in a position to know that some concern is felt, although to a lesser extent than in the case of New Zealand, in regard to the flattening out of some of their butters caused largely by the adoption of practices similar to our own. So far as England is concerned, the production of butter may be considered practically negligible as yet, but this will not always be the case, and I can visualise their system of manufacture being based upon lines very similar to our own.

Flat and Neutral Types. “I am purposely avoiding going into any question regardnig the economics.' of this system of manufacturing high-, ly vacreated butters. “Taking a long view into the future in regard to the character of butter which may be supplied on that market, there is undoubtedly a case for the flat and neutral types arriving here in considerable quantities, thereby creating a demand for that type with an undiscerning consuming public. “The point which I now wish to stress is this: If this-butter is to be our standard type, and manufactured from low-acidity cream plus vacreation and deodorisation, then I imagine we must revise our system of neutralising and salting. I may be alone in making this observation, but I am ' perfectly sure that creams that have been treated in such a manner, and are . so delicate in character,-will not stand, 1 the percentage of salt, or ' ation of salt and soda, that-Jvfe have , used in the past. Moreover, it is | doubtful whether the cream so treated j will stand up to export conditions just as well as fuller-flavoured butters. | “I have Mr —’s authority to state . ! that the recent shipment, of butters which he was able to see during manufacture, grading, and on re-examin-ation in London, showed a decided falling off in quality between the grading floor in Auckland and its port of ation. Personally I feel that there is room for considerable investigation along these lines. The butters so treated will probably require to be manufactured with the assistance of starter, and the manufacture- will need very careful supervision in regard to , the quality of such starter when used ■ in conjunction with this type of cream, j “The half-way house in so far as j New Zealand is concerned appears to me to be in the careful selection of . ! all creams which may be thought to , contain strong and objectionable feed' j flavours, and the subjection of only j these creams to vacreation methods. * j Furthermore, I feel that' with a good' supply of' daily-delivered cream there ; are periods when the old system of tandem pasteurisation should accomplish all that is desired.. Not an Alarmist. •* “I do not wish t’his communication to be viewed in the nature of an alarmist report. A superficial inquiry would elicit a. reply from probably 90 per cent of the trade to the effect that New Zealand butter was perfectly satisfactory, and that there was no cause for complaint. This ia probably correct, but it is not the whole story. Safe and satisfactory is good, but safe and satisfactory plus something else is better, and I feel that if Australia could gain just a little more uniformity in quality, and a lifting of her lower-grade butters, we might in the near future And her on a par with us in so far as price quotations are concerned, if not a little ahead. “If I tell you that to-day I witnessed a selection of butter being made on a warehouse floor from seven samples of New Zealand and two of Australian for the use of the firm’s staff, and that the Australian butter was chosen on account of its fuller flavour —and I may say I was inclined to agree with this decision —you will perhaps get the drift of what may happen. I do feel that there is no need for any inferiority complex, but a careful survey of jrfst what is to be our next move in regard to the length to which we shall go in flattening out the quality of our butters should be made. lam not attempting to advocate a Danish flavoured butter, but father to suggest that we should conaider the advisability or otherwise of proceeding with the manufacture of hat, neutralised butters in preference :o those with a natural creamy )ur.” **