THE CHEESE QUESTION.

Southland Times, Issue 21264, 10 December 1930, Page 9

THE CHEESE QUESTION.

To the Editor.

Sir,—Recently a deputation waited on the Minister for Agriculture, asking him mjt, to acitede to the request of the Dairy Control Board to prohibit, the export of standardized cheese. 'Mr Dynes Fulton, the principal speaker, stated that, the deputation represented the producers of about 40,000 tons of'cheeSe—about' half the’tot al produced in the Dominion. The, following are-the official figures-showing the production of export cheese in the various provinces (June, 1930) : ■ Auckland, 13,335 tons; Taranaki, 30,369 tons; Wellington, 13,072 tons; Hawkes Bay, 3,447 tons; Nelson, 547 tons; Marlborough, 947 tons; Westland, 19 tons; Canterbury, 2146 tons; Southland and Otago, 14,781 tons.

It will be seen that Auckland Province produce 13,335 tons (N.Z. Co op. Dairy Association, 5884 tons, Cambridge Dairy Co. 2646 tons) ; Taranaki’s production is 36,369 tons (T. L. Joll Co. 3616 tons, Hawera 2435 tons, Kaupokonui 3145 tons, Mangatoki 1636 tons). ■ At a meeting of Taranaki Dairy Factory representatives held at Hawera on October 18, the following resolution was carried: ‘'That after hearing the evidence of Mr W. A. lorns and Mr A. C. Rpss regarding cheese quality, this meeting resolves that the Department of Agriculture be requested to suspend until the end of March the regulations permitting the manufacture of standardized cheese, and that the position be again reviewed at the end of March.”

At a meeting of Taranaki dairy factory representatives at New Plymouth on October 20, a similar- resolution was carried.

The Hawera Star in an editorial of October 20, in dealing with the meeting of Taranaki dairymen, says: “The meeting made it plain that there was an overwhelming majority in favour of return to full creum manufacture. Mr lorns, by his documentary evidence, backed up by his forceful personality and his obvious sincerity, made all the whispering about “propaganda” appear ridiculous —as indeed it always has been. He'showed conclusively as we have contended over and over again in these columns, that (1) it is no use expecting the English consumer to buy and eat what we consider is good for him; (2) that so long as the consumer is spending his own money he will buy what he wants, and if we will not supply his demand, he will not hesitate to go elsewhere; (3) that the biggest asset the cheese industry can have at Home is goodwill, to be obtained only by good quality and regular supply.”

The South Island Dairy Association has written twice Io the Minister for Agriculture asking him in most emphatic, terms to prohibit the export of standardized cheese, and at a meeting of representatives of Otago cheese factories, and also at a meeting of Southland representatives of cheese factories, very strong resolution.-, were carried asking for (he cancellation forthwith of the regulations allowing standardized cheese to be exported. 1 maintain, sir, that Mr Fulton’s statement that his deputation represented the producers of 40,000 tons of cheese was a grave misrepresentation and I shall await with interest his explanation. Taranaki is by far the largest cheese-producing province in New Zealand, and thoroughly representative meetings declared definitely in favour of prohibiting standardization until March 31 next. The Dairy Control Board by 9 votes to 2 endorsed the Taranaki representations, and the board resolved to recommend the Minister to prohibit the export of standardized cheese until March 31, 1931, and then to review the position. The Hawera Star, in an editorial on October 25, 1930, says: "It should be a matter of .satisfaction to' the Taranaki Dairy Federation, and to Taranaki dairymen generally, that the board (that., is the Dairy Control Board) has endorsed the resolution adopted on the motion of the Federation Executive by last Saturday's meeting held.in Hawera . . . The board’s recommendation has yet. to be endorsed by the Government through the Department of Agriculture, bin it is not within the bounds of reason. that its request will not be acted upon.” The N.Z. Dairy Produce Exporter in an editorial of November 22, 1930, says:— "In these notes last month we traversed the position of standardized cheese at some length, ’ and we do not intend to cover the ground again. Since then, however, the Governor-General. Lord Bledisloe, has made a brief statement which goes lo the root of the whole matter. Speaking at. the' opening of the Carterton Show, he said that the question that the English consumer asked was, ‘What is standardized

cheese?’ and the answer was that it was cheese made from milk from which some of the cream had been removed. The consumer then replied that that was what they called skimmed milk cheese, and would be willing to pay only a skim milk cheese price for it, irrespective of the quality. Unfortunately, that seems only too true, and we may be quite sure that anyone with Lord Bledisloe’s extensive experience would not speak unless he was' perfectly certain that, his view was accurate and helpful. It. has ail along been our view that the choice of the name ‘standardized’ was an unfortunate one, but that does not help the present position. It cannot be gainsaid that at times of the year we can turn out a better standardized than full cream cheese, due to the preponderance of .Jerseys in many of our cheese-making districts. If our cheese is to be judged on name rather than quality—and the evidence is strongly in favour of this assumption—we will have to return to the' full cream article. No doubt some of the opposition has been due to the English cheese grinders who can make package cheese more cheaply from full cream New Zealand and low grade Dutch cheese, than by using our standardized article, but as the opposition is so widespread, it seems that we are up against a brick wall. There are tinies when retreat is the wisest course, and this seems one of them.” —I am, etc.,

J. I>. KALAUGHER, Secretary N.Z. Friesian Association, Auck land,