IMPROVED QUALITY

Taranaki Daily News, 22 February 1935, Page 15

IMPROVED QUALITY

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE

RESULT OF GRADING OF MILK. ADDRESS BY MR. G. M. VALENTINE. Mr. G. M. Valentine, Assistant-Director of the Dairy Division, in an address to Taranaki factory managers and dairymen at New Plymouth yesterday, commented upon the big improvement in the quality of cheese as a. result of the grading of milk. He had been in England the season after the trouble had occurred owing to ' the excessive attention to yield. That J had undoubtedly given New Zealand cheese a reputation that it had to live 'down. Though the present quality was quite good, the cheese had still certain defects, and he warned them that an attempt to revert to the yield policy i would be heading for absolute disaster. During his visit to Great Britain, he investigated the position very carefully, interviewing both the wholesalers and the grocers who actually did the selling. The grocers’ main objection to the New Zealand article was the fact that the moisture escaped too quickly while the cheese was on the counter. They had to sell it quickly or otherwise it cracked up too much. The wholesalers complained that the New Zealand cheese showed too much shrinkage and that it was more profitable for them to buy Canadian cheese at a higher price. Nevertheless, he was of the opinion that these difficulties had been to a large extent overcome in the present article, but New Zealand was still suffering from the stigma cast upon it during the period in which it was going for yield. There was no necessity to attempt to mature cheese before sending it away. The big British wholesalers did not desire matured cheeses. They preferred to hold it themselves. As was explained to him, there were varying markets. Certain retailers in certain districts had a market for lightly matured cheese while others had a sale for the fully matured article. Wholesalers had to satisfy all these demands and naturally desired to buy unmatured cheese. The white was the better seller at present. PASTEURISATION NECESSARY. Mr. Valentine expressed the opinion that New Zealand would never be able to arrive at the stage where she... could manufacture exclusively from raw milk. Pasteurisation was absolutely necessary to maintain uniformity and the mild flavour. Waxing was not really necessary. It was not required for the grocer’s trade and only favoured the speculator, as the waxed cheeses deteriorated less in storage. The present method of crating was giving satisfaction, especially ’ the system of stapling between the battens. He made a special appeal for the careful and correct labelling of crates, as any errors caused trouble and expense in the handling at the London end. The general satisfaction that New Zealand butter was giving at present was extremely gratifying. The product was now regarded as being second only to the Danish and, in view of the fact that the Danish was naturally far fresher, this was most satisfactory. There was a general all-round improvement in the butter being imported into Great Britain, and it was imperative that, not only should New Zealand’s present standard be rigidly maintained, but also should New Zealand be constantly endeavouring to effect an improvement. The most important qualities required were those of uniformity and ability to keep. The poor butter could usually be traced to unsound cream, resulting from collections being made at irregular intervals and not daily. Flavour could only be developed at the expense of keeping qualities, and, though he thought that there were possibilities of a market for butter with more flavour, the time was not yet opportune. DANGER OF OVER-WORKING. Mr. Valentine, in a brief summary of suggestions for the improvement of methods of manufacture, stressed particularly the danger of over-working the butter. This tended to make it rather too much in the nature of dripping. It was necessary to retain a creamy nature and texture.

New Zealand had a decided advantage in body over all its rivals, even including Danish. This enabled it to stand salting without losing its flavour. The •product had a splendid natural body which should he zealously retained. Spreadability was another point that had received some notice, but the speaker considered that too much publicity had been given to this. It was not really vital. During certain periods New Zealand butter was rather hard to spread, but this only affected the sale in big institutions and hospitals.- As regards salting, he was of opinion that 1.8 per cent, was the extreme limit. The packing and finish of New Zealand butter had rather disappointed him, said Mr. Valentine. The packers had, in certain cases, not even covered the butter properly and big cavities had been left. The standard box appeared to be far more satisfactory than the saranac.

In reply to a question, Mr. Valentine did not think that the packing of each single cheese separately in a crate would be any advantage. It would certainly involve extra expense, and the present method was considered to be the best in the world.