THE CHEESE TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 84, 6 October 1938, Page 12

THE CHEESE TRADE

BRITISH IMPERIAL IMPORTS

A report recently issued by the London Chamber of Commence refers to the importance of the New Zealand and Canadian cheese-making industries. The products find a large market in the United Kingdom. In Australia the present production of cheese could be considerably developed, for the natural conditions are well suited to the manufacture of large quantities of tlie Cheddar type. In the United Kingdom market, New Zealand occupies a dominant position, furnishing last year about 60 per cent, of the total cheese imports (nearly 3,000,000cwt, valued at £9,250,000). There has been a marked recovery by Canadian cheese which is now second at 750,000cwt, and supplies from Australia have recovered somewhat from the decline of a year ago. In the last two or three years, the quality of New Zealand cheese has improved. It is interesting to note that cheese imported from South Africa has been considered by many to be of particularly good quality. The Union, however, and Australia are not important •factors in the market.

For .the most part, all the cheese imported from New Zealand and Australia is made from pasteurised milk, and as South Africa is adopting the pasteurisation of milk for cheese making it seems probable that in the near future factory cheese in quantity made from unpasteurised milk will be available only from Canada. This is considered to be some advantage to that Dominion, whose cheese is particularly good in maturing and is almost certain to be in greater demand if, as is believed, the trade in matured cheese is likely to increase. • The exports of Canadian cheese m 1937 amounted to 889,553cwt as compared with 1,647,255cwt of New Zealand cheese exported.