DAIRY QUALITY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21782, 23 April 1934, Page 11

DAIRY QUALITY

STARTER IN BUTTER GAINING FULLER FLAVOUR RISKS ATTENDANT ON USE r PROBLEM AWAITING SOLUTION No. VII. To move around in the dairy industry is to be struck with the many who concern themselves with'marketing problems, Everyone Eeems to have pet theories on the subject. A discussion might be opened on methods of producing a quality article, but had a disconcerting habit of veering off on to the selling side and "what we should do in Britain."

In reality, as those with experience know, selling is the hardest part of the business. In a general way the world seems to have solved the age-old problem of production, but is s'till trying to find the secret of distribution. Meanwhile, it is the task of most .of those in the dairying industry to apply them-t selves to the job of making butter an<s cheese of a quality which will facilitate the difficult business of marketing. That is tho dictum of one who has had experience on both sides of the industry. He puts quality first—the condition precedent. "Of course,, butter and cheese are manufactured for sale," he remarked, "but it is bought to bo eaten. Thiit latter aspect is the one farmers and factory managers should keep uppermost. They have got to appeal to the pocket from the palate." Appeal to British Palate From that he launched on to the subject of starters for butter and the advantage the Danes possessed through the free use of starter in tickling the palate of the British consumer. In their special market, tlje Midlands and North, the public had acquired a taste for the more pronounced flavour of butter so manufactured. Because New Zealand butter lacked in .full measure this special character cf acidity, it was uphill work breaking into a rich sales territory, even at the lower price. Starter is a lactic acid preparation made from sour milk. It is part of daily practice in making cheddar cheese, although even in this tried department a good deal has to he found out about the behaviour and proper care of starters. In butter-inaking in New Zealand starter is little used, although a good deal of study is being devoted here and in Australia in an atteinpt to discover the conditions of its employment without prejudicing the keeping quality of butter.

The Danes use 5 per cent of starter. Even so it is prepared and kept under direct laboratory conditions and, under the creamery system, is introduced to a more even and reliable raw material than is presented to New Zealand factories by home-separation. Nevertheless, with ' these favourable conditions, Danish is not a good keeping butter. Its "life" is generally stated at about a fortnight. Risking Keeping Quality On account of her distance from the market, New Zealand must manufacture a butter whose "life" has to be reckoned in months. At present its keeping quality is one of the main items in its goodwill. That cannot be lightly risked in a gamble with starter. Yet if factory managers could safely add a small percentage to mild acidity it would be a valuable marketing point gained. Some New Zealand factories have succeeded in introducing starter with satisfactory results. At Levin the percentage is li per cent, or one-fourth the proportion used in Denmark. Others have experimented, sometimes with fractional percentages, but with the reverse of success. Since uniformity and consistency with a food product counts a great deal in building goodwill, there is therefore a proper reluctance to use starter with butter ''until a great deal more is known about it.

The scientists realise that they hare here a hard problem, but they do not despair of its solution. Certainly, if tpey do solve it, the market premium which should be won would pay for tho necessary investigation hundreds of times over. That is only one reason why New Zealand should spend a great deal more on dairy science and research. The current allowance is niggardly and definitely bad business. A Doubtful Proposition

In passing it may be mentioned that Professor Riddet says it has been demonstrated that starter can be introduced after as well as before the manufacture of butter. That suggests that this flavour requisite might be added in England, immediately prior to tho butter being sent out to the retail trade. Keeping quality would not be such a dominating consideration so close to consumption, and the process might be carried out at the patting, plants suggested by Mr. Goodfellow. This proposition was submitted to a man with much factory experience. He was very dubious whether the butter would stand up to the further working necessary to introduce starter. "I -am afraid it might collapse into a flaccid, greasy mass," he saidr "You have to remember that the raw materials have already been severely worked. There is a limit to the texture of butter-fat, and that is already reached in many cases." Of course, he continued, what was possible could be found out by trial and error, but care must be taken not to involve the British consumer in the experiment. To his way of thinking too 1 much should not be attempted withstarter until cream supplies were improved. More liberties could be taken with a uniform, high quality raw material, A clean, pure foundation was needed to build on. . . No Short Cuts That condition, he understood, was fulfilled in those butter factories which were already using small percentages of starter with good results. So it really meant that improvement must start at the beginning—on the farm —if t'he.y were to finish with a high quality product of consumer appeal. They came back to the first essential of clean and sweet supply. This subject of starter in butter has been treated at some length because it appears to fascinate many outside the industry, and also because of its in-, trinsic importance. The difference in price made by Danish butter illustrates the latter point. The discussion of the subject has also re-emphasised the fact that there is no easy road to fortune. So many people are ready with cure-alls and short-cuts and get-rich-quick ideas. Starter in butter might seem to be one of them.

On examination it proves to b<i a very complex and risky subject, its use being hedged about with conditions. And the first, as has been noted in other connections, is to improve the supply standard. Market success begins to be made or marred on the farm, and the thing is to organise the industry so that proper care is taken at this Jind every subsequent stage.