The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1930. STANDARDISED OR FULL CREAM?

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 13 September 1930, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1930. STANDARDISED OR FULL CREAM?

Delivered every evening by 6 o'olook in Ilawera, Manaia, Kaupskunui, Ot.akeho, Oeo, Pihama, Opunake, Normanby, ’ Okaiawe. Eltbam, Ngaere. Mangatoki, Kaponga. Awatuna, Te Kiri, Mahoe, Lowgaruh, Manutahi Kakaramea, Alton, Hurlejville Patea, Whenuakura, Waverley. Alokoia, Whakamara, Ohangai, Mereinere, Fraser Road, and Ararata.

It is now quite obvious that the cheesemaking industry does not receive guidance on policy matters from quarters where it should be forthcoming. It has been said in the past that the greatest drawback to progress in the industry was the difficulty in bringing the ordinary supplier to a sense of responsibility —that he could see no further ahead than the monthly pay-out and concerned himself not at all with the more complex questions of marketing and retention of goodwill. That criticism has been deserved in the past, but any

measure of truth which it may contain I to-day does not excuse the people I higher up for the present state of in- , decision in the iAdustry regarding the jpolicy to be adopted for the ensuing I season. The majority of dairymen arc now aware that the cheese-making industry has approached a crisis in its j history. Many of them were slow tOj heed the warnings issued in the past, j but the low level of prices this year and the uncertainty of the outlook for j the immediate future have removed | remaining doubts in mpst minds. But can it be said that the cheese industry is entering upon the new season armed with the knowledge gained in the les-

| sons of last year? The last twelve | months, if they have proved anything have demonstrated that the dairymer jean no longer count on quantity alone , polling him through. The experience oi | the past year has also shown that 1 rightly or wrongly, the Home merchant and retailer blames standardisation foi ithe falling off in New Zealand cheese .quality. When standardisation was introduced in Taranaki the sole object lof the promoters of the scheme was to produce a better article—not to rob the consumer—and, properly carried out, it

would have achieved that end. Though [some of the practical men in the indus|trv find, a difficulty in admitting it. standardisation of itself has not detrimentally affected quality; but; the abuse of the system undoubtedly has. This season factory directorates have boon faced with the necessity of making a choice between standardised and full cream and some of those who have decided to standardise have argued lengthily about the merits of the system, properly employed, instead of facing the stark fact that on the Home maikct standardised cheese has lost favour. In all probability the greatest proportion of standardised sent out of;

New Zealand this year will be of a high quality, for it is unlikely that factories, after the experience of last season, will continue to squeeze that, little more out. of the milk which means bigger profits and lower quality. Some I experts say that it is possible to make I a standardised cheese the equal of any, and better than some, full cream cheese, and theoretically that should be so, if there is anything in the contention that a full cream cheese, made from the milk of high-testing cows, can be too “fatty.” But the fact that the New Zealand dairyman has to face is that, the English buyer is not concerned a snap of the fingers about any excuses made by us that our standardised of last season was poor in quality because the system was abused. All he knows and cares about is that it was standardised and that it was not of the quality desired. At first glance it might appear to the unitiated that there was no problem facing the factory directorates this season and that it was merely a ease for dropping standardised, while admitting that the necessity for doing so was not any fault in the system so much as in the method of employing it. But the issue was not quite so easy as that. Under standardisation the skimmed cream is capable of being put to other commercial uses, returning a small additional profit per lb. of butter-fat. Some factory directorates have decided that they cannot afford to lose this additional profit, therefore they will continue to make a standardised cheese—which has lost its popularity on the market. The discussion at Ngaere yes- [ terday was illuminating inasmuch as it revealed the predicament of some directorates. One speaker at that meeting said that if the milk were liis own he would certainly make full cream cheese, biit there were such factors as reduced profit, lower pay-out and dissatisfied factory' suppliers. to be considered. The meeting of shareholders left the final decision in the hands of the directors, but it passed a resolution urging that the Dairy Division should abolish the regulations permitting the manufacture of standardised cheese. This is nothing loss than an appeal to the powers that be to “save us from ourselves;” and it reflects fairly accurately the state of mind of many a troubled directorate to-day. With a Dairy Division enjoying wide powers and a Dairy Board maintained at the expense of the industry, the supplier and factory director should never have been left in such a wilderness of doubt at such a critical stage of the industry’s development.