CANNED POULTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22025, 7 August 1933, Page 12

CANNED POULTRY

A POTENTIAL INDUSTRY SUCCESS IN BRITAIN. References have been made recently (says the Wellington Post) to the prosperous state of the British ainni"g industry and to the fact that success has been achieved in a new branch of the industry by canning poultry. A number of difficulties have had to be overcome, but now that canned poultry has become a commercial proposition there is no reason why it should not be included among New Zealand’s secondary irdustries. At one time Belgium was the chief exporter of canned poultry, but several factors, including the appreciation of the franc in relation to the pound, and the introduction of tariffs, caused the trade with Great Britain to fall away, and turned the attention,, of Home manufacturers towards providing a substitute. As is the case with other tinne'd foods, the quality is inferior to that of the fresh article, and the market price must be correspondingly lower. It is necessary at this stage, therefore, to consider the cost of placing canned poultry on the market. According to figures supplied to a Pr ‘ reporter, the cost of producing a bird 18 weeks old, fit for killing, on the average New Zealand poultry farm would be about 3s 3d, made up as follows:—Cost of producing a dayold chick, 6d; rent, mortality, etc., 6d; labour, 3d; food for the period, 2s. The canning industry would mainly provide the poultry farmer with an avenue of sale for birds which at present are largely an incubus, such ns surplus cockerels. The cost of feeding a cockerel ilntil it is ready for killing is about 3s 6d. Hens which no longer lay are usually sold from Is 3d to 2s each, their weight varying from 41b to 4ilb. A “ LUXURY ARTICLE.” “ Canned poultry will always constitute a luxury article,’ and, as such, its preparation must needs be irreproachable,” states Pood Manufacture, an English publication, on the subject. “In this connection, - the inspection of some commercial samples of canned whole fowl in glass showed ugly ruptures of the skin covering the breast —a defect not affecting the actual quality of the product but nevertheless militating against its immediate acceptance by a prospective purchaser. Careful preliminary experimentation on the class of bird best suited for canning purposes should bo made. The use of different strains, or of different aged birds in varying states of condition, will plac unnecessary obstacles in the way of attaining what should be the main object of every canner—namely, the standardisation of his product. American canneries use birds which have finished laying, thus utilising the by-products of the poultry farm. Canning would be best initiated by the poultry farmers themselves, thus facilitating the avoidance of difficulties inherent’ in the purchase of absolutely standard material.” The article refers to the advisability of the adoption of the very minimum number of sizes of cans to be offered to the public when dealing with the canned whole bird, and stresses the importance of packing a fixed net weight. Among questions the canner ' has to answer are the following:—ln >rhat form, or forms, shall he offer it? Shall he boil it, sterilise it, and call it roast fowl?- Shall he produce a real roast fowl which may be taken from the can and heated up, if desired, to imitate as nearly as possible the fresh article, or shall he take the line of least resistance and make a mere gelantinc put into a pea can?