QUALITY OF DAIRY OUTPUT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18618, 14 July 1930, Page 12

QUALITY OF DAIRY OUTPUT.

SOUTHLAND PRODUCERS MEET. “SOUTHLAND" BRAND DEMANDED By Telegraph—Press Association INVERCARGILL, July 12. Dairy factory representatives from all over Southland attended a meeting convened in Invercargill by the South Island Dairy Association, to discuss the question of branding Southland cheese, and also a proposal regarding payment of premium according to grade. The meeting was under the chairmanship of Mr H. J. Middleton, chairman of the South Island Daily Association, and Mr W. G. Wright (secretary of the Association). Mi John Dunlop (member of the Dairy Board), and Mr T. C. Brash (secretary of the Dairy Board), were in attendMr Middleton explained that at a previous meeting in Invercargill, a Southland brand was favoured, yet at a conference in Dunedin, where many Southlanders were present, a unanimous vote favoured a South Island brand, representing the whole territory. It was surely, he said, the duty of the directors of the Association to give a lead, and he thought that an expression of opinion on this important question should be quite definite. He found it somewhat difficult to understand why there should be any objection to a South Island brand. Anything that might be lost by talcing in Canterbury would be gained by talcing in Otago. Considering only superfine grade, the percentages were Otago 69, Southland 56, Canterbury 31J. The average for the South Island worked out very little below Southland’s, and he did not think that the Southland position would be imperilled by adopting a South Island brand. Personally, he was not much enamoured of a branding scheme. The great thing was" to establish a high standard of produce, otherwise Southland produce so branded might lose credit on the Home market if some inferior samples were handled. Mr Dunlop said he brought up the motion at Dunedin. Just before the meeting a South Island Dairy Board representative had told him that a South Island brand was to be advocated. Previously no reason had been raised against the South Island brand. The two brands, “South Island” and “Southland.” were very similar, and might lead to confusion at Home. Mr Singleton, Director of the Dairy Division, had said that the multiplication of brands would lead to confusion. Evidence fror% Home was that, with all Southland's quality, they could not get a better price than that of standardised cheese. He quoted a London report from Mr H. E. Davis, manager there for the Dairy Board. This, Mr Dunlop argued, showed that the Southland full cream article was not getting any better treatment than the ordinary article, and he did not think a brand would get them there. If a brand could be a means of forcing the position with regard to other producers, then it might be of value. He repeated that two brands would lead to confusion. After some discussion, a motion was moved that the meeting was emphatically opposed to a South Island brand, and emphatically adhered to its decision to support a Southland brand. This was declared carried. The meeting then discussed a proposal raised at the Hamilton conference, regarding payment of a premium according to grade. The chairman strongly deprecated the policy of inflating yield at the expense of quality, and favoured a premium payment scheme being placed on a national basis. He suggested a resolution—“ That this meeting, viewing with grave alarm the continuous reports which are being received from overseas regarding a serious decline in the quality of New Zealand cheese, strongly urges the Dairy Division, in conjunction with the Dairy Board, to take, without delay, whatever steps may be necessary to give effect to a scheme for premium payments, as carried at the Hamilton conference; the scheme, however, -to be made applicable on a national basis, with one pool for the whole Dominion, instead of being divided into separate groups.” Mr Brash commended Southland and Otago producers in keeping up their quality, while in the north many factories had gone for quantity at the expense of grade. There was opposition in the north to a Dominion pool, because it would mean for a time a transfer of money from North to South, Now, at last, the North was alive to the need for doing something with regard to keeping quality up. He stressed the desirability of a central meeting, with representatives from each place present, as a means of tackling a great many of the problems which were being dealt with separately, with a result that they did not get as far as they might. A motion urging a Dominion pool was carried unanimously, and will be sent forward to the Dairy Division and the Dairy Board.