OUR DAIRY PRODUCE

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4305, 14 March 1901, Page 2

OUR DAIRY PRODUCE

SHRINKAGE IN WEIGHTS

TROUBLE WITH FACTORY MANAGERS.

From the time of manufacture till reaching the market, dairy produce, both butter and cheese, loses in weight. This loss is known to the trade as “shrinkage.” In butter iho moisture absorbed by the wood of the box is principally responsible for the loss, and in cheese, the loss is occasioned Jjy a certain evaporation which takes place as the product, matures.

When the dairy industry of Now Zealand was in its infancy, :Iml, in tact, up till the last few years, iho shrinkage question was responsible for considerable friction between the factory owners and a."cnts. Tu well-established dairying countries some system the question bet ween buyer and seller is rocogniseflTbut in this colony the matter had in.the early stages of tha dairy inthlstiy to' be fought- out between those interested, to the loss generally of the buyers, and always to the injury of the reputation of the produce. The invoicing of chccso weights to the Australian trade, irrespective of shrinkage. and the marking of the weights on the cases immediately, the cheese, was made, wore reasons why New Zealand cheese a few seasons back was regarded with great disfavour by Sydney and Melbourne dealers. Now, however, since the justice of allowing a certain percentage for shrinkage is recognised, New Zealand cheese is gaining, its deserved reputation in the Sydney and Melbourne markets.

An exact standard for shrinkage of dairy produce cannot be laid down, as the . degree depends so much upon the nature of tho article, the method of manufacture, and conditions .of storage and transit. With cheese, however. 3 per cent, is admitted to bo a fair allowance for well-cured cheese between the port of shipment id. the colony and the London warehouse. In butter from half a pound to a pound in tho 561 b box is necessary; half a pound for a dry butter, and increasing up to a, pound with a oorrespondinc increase in moisture. Though considerable trouble has been caused by the carelessness—gross carelessness, at times—of factory managers in weighing, or not weighing, tho butter—-merely smoothing tho butter off in a bOxc supposed to contain tho correct amount—it is principally in connection with cheese waiomts that trouble exists. This wall bo seen from the reports of the eases brought by the local graders against the managers of the German Lav and Kaupohohui factories. In the former case a conviction was entered, and in the latter the case was dismissed.

The, Bairn- Commissioner points out. Hi at in many factories iii New Zealand the cheese is cased when ggeou—that is, just after it is made, and before it is 'cured—.such factories allowing the cheese I to lie in the factory in case for several I weeks ; and that it is with such factories | that the present trouble exists. It is I argued .by the managers of the factories ' in question that this is unavoidable, as ; there is not sufficient space in tho cur-ing-rooms of their factories for all the cheese made. As tho greatest shrinkage takes place between the time the cheese is hetually made, and put on the shelves of the curing-mom, and when it is ready to be packed, it can be understood that when tho cheese is packed and weighed (for it is always weighed when : being packed) in the green state, and allowed to mature after it is cased, the _ weight of tho . cheese when leaving the factory is less than when it was first weighed,, and is not in accord with the Weight marked on tho case. _ When the cheese reaches the port of shipment it is weighed again hy the Government grader. The correct weight is marked on tho grader’s note ; also ibo discrepancy between the grader’s weighing' and ■that of tho factory, if there should be anv. If the offending companies would accent tho grader’s weigh* ing all would be well, but in certain cases the companies ignore the grader, and demand from tho buyer a price equal to the market weight of the case. In certain instances lines of cheese have showed a shortage on the marked weights when checkweighed at Wellington of fully 4ib a case, a shortage which the factories have refused to admit.

Fortunately, the trouble is confined to but few factories. The majority of managers have come to see the force of j meeting the trade jn a fair spirit, and j have attended during the past two seasons i with praiseworthy care to the work of ' weighing. As the offending factories have been repeatedly warned of the provision contained in the Dairy Industry | Act—which compels them to accurately : declare the weights of their cheese ‘ r at itho time of shipment”—the matter has been tested by the Department, with tbo result above stated. Hie Dairy Commissioner is to be commended for his endeavour to protect the good name our produce is establishing for itself with the London trade.