N.Z. Dairy Produce

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 86, 28 April 1937, Page 10

N.Z. Dairy Produce

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QUALITY IS GOOD Improvenient^ Must Be Maintained PROF. RIDDET'S VIEWS

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PALMERSTON N. This Lay. Our butter is vety good and is well accepted by the trade, bttt we ean't afford >to. stand still. We rnust improve on the lines of producing a product uniformly creamy in favour, and must also raise the quality of those brands which are not grading as high as others. The need for eon.tin.uing to pay attention to bnprovement in quality ia demonstrated by the fact that there is no bad quality butter sold in Britain_ to-day. You can't sell poor quality butter in Britain," stated Profeesor W. Riddet in the coiirse of a talk to dairy factory managers at the Dairy Research In* stitute yesterday, in "svhich he made soiae observations on the quality of New Zealand dairy produce in the United Kingdom, arising out of his recent tour. It was maintained by some people, stated Professor Riddet, that they could not see New Zealand butter at Home, but he had found that he could buy New Zealand butter in every town he had visited in England, Seobland and Wales; there was no diffieulty in getting it anywhere. It had been further stated that our. butter was not adequately advertised, but that was wrong, beeause he had found it advertised in even the small villages. Although some shopkeepers might not stoek it, it could. always bp at some othex shop. Unlike uul.ui' iiuiu other countries, with the exception of Denmark, •New Zealand butter was sold in a straight form as New Zealand butter and was mainly sold in bulk, although some was patted. Not a great deal of New Zealand butter was used for blending purposes; other butter s were used, beeause they were cheaper. The quality of New Zealand butter Was very acceptable to the Home consumerj it waB well liked beeause it was fairly uniform. in flavour and possessed the great virtiie Of being a very good keeper. It was the duty of the dairy industry to aee that these two prineiples would always be observed — preservation of uniformity and preservation of keeping quality. In regard to experiments, Professor Riddet said that, however enthusiastic people might be about trying out experiments, it was wrong for individuals to conduct them, beeause their wOrk might spoil the prestige of our butter. There were eome respects in whioh impnovement eould be effected to our butter, Of all qualities, flavOur was the most important, whieh equaily applied to the butter of all countries. Some persons had suggested that it might be best for New Zealand to expoft butter varying in quality and send it to different parts of Britain to meet the desires of those localities, but aitor his tour of Britain he had changed his viewai entirely; it was not, possible to ensurei that butter made for oue market would always be sold on that market. If the factories altered the charaeteristics of their butter, they would alter the demand. New Zealand butter differed radically in flavour from the acid butters that were made in Northern Europe and the Bnitic countries. Whafc New Zealand should aim as far as j possible was freshness of flavour nnd a ' creamy flavour. There was no necessity for New Zealand to simulate the I Baltic product beeause we had already created a demand for our flavour and by trying to copy the Baltic countries, we would only turn out a second-rate acid butter. Freshness and creamy flavour could be obtained best of all by ensuring that the cream delivered to the factory was fresh and of the finest grade. , Methods of IManuf actruro, Within recent years it had become jeustomary to use starters in our butters, 'Within limits a trace of starter was ,useful, but it was essential that fac-. .toiies using starter should use no more than was necessary and should check up the acidity, beeause a flavouri Isavouring of tallow was anathema at ,Home, In regard to diacetyl, he 'thought that, while it could give a deifinite flavour to the butter, there was no need for us to use it; we could get the flavour we wanted without added substances. A further point was that it was a question whether the addition of such substances was legal in Britain, Professor Riddet urged managers not |to overload their butter with salt, and said it was most desirablo to avoid excessive use of neutraliser. In regard to the spreadability of Kew .Zealand butter, one did hear complainta at Home, particulariy where it was to be used during the winter months. •This question was locked up to some I extent with the fact that our butter was j frozen, and if care was not taken to ; .see that it was defrosted before being sold over the counter, complaints would j arise. | For some districts at Home oux ! (butter tended to be a bit too high in colour. August, September and early October ruakes foll in this category, and if thb colonr of them couid be slightiy reduced, it would be advantageous, bul ,that presented a farm problem. For •the remainder of the year one did not hear complaints. The flnish of our butter, like all ! thingB, needed proper attention and ] must -not be neglected, A matter to whieh Professor Riddet i commended the attention of managers was the desirability of exhibiting at ! the Londou Dairy 8how, so that New Zealatid butter might be given more advertisement. } Oheese Quality Greatly Jonproved. ^ Turuing to cheese, the speaker point1 ed out that, while we supplied Britain 1 with 27 per cent. of her imported butter, we supplied nearly 70 per cent. of her imported cheese, and that, of all the cheese consumed in Britain, roughly

half came from New Zealand. A lot had been heard in recent years of indiSerent quality in regard to New Zealand eheese, but there had been * great improvement in the last two years, and if we nontinued to effect improvements, we would not have much to growl about, Possiblv tecture fifave rise to more hrorry than anything else. While there had been an improvement, mtteh of out fcheese was yet father open for the trade. The grocers said that it crackbd, d'ried too rapidly and, when being Lt, tended to flake. The Dommion ' fehould continue to aim at making a • teloser cheese. However, New Zealand kvas not the only oflender in this direcjtion, beeause English and Canadian | fcheese could be eeen that was open. There was a standing demand to-day for a mild flavoured cheese, but it was tess&ntial to avoid the use of excessive bait and acid. Pernaps oift cheese could do with more flavour at the present jtime, and if we cOuld convey a little kore cheese flavour without givmg a matnred flavour, it would be an advanIn regard to colour, it would be better |f our cheese were not so high in colour as at the present time, and people; would then be prepared to accept it as i truly white cheese. Actually the ilightly coloured cheese had more food' yalue than white cheese, but people had hot been edncated to this faet yet. As far as coloured cheese was concerned, jwe should give the depth of colour that the market 'desired. Discoloration of New Zealand cheese j!?&s not a major problem at the present ifcime, but no one should run away with jfche idea that it was a matter to be flisregarded, In regard to flnifeh, care must be taken about the shape and symmetry, and Gracked rims guarded Ugainst. Mould in our cheese was a question to whieh very carefui attention must be given. New Zealand cheese should not have more mould growth than cheese from any other country. He did not know why mould growth tendered to be prevalent in New Zealand cheese, but the complaints were there and the cause for thejn must be eliminated. He emphasised the absolute necessity for being carefut with the flnish of the. cheese and with tlxe cleanliness of the factory, to reduce infection from mould spores to the minixaum, In regard to waxiug, some people wanted waxed cheese and others didn't. Canadian cheese was quite different to the New Zealand product. The Canadians did nCt worry about a little. of£ flavour; as long as the cheese was; sound in body and acid, they werei satisfled. Canadian cheese was not soi uniform as New Zealand; it was easier' to sell 3O,OO0 tons than the 100,000 tons ia the case oi' New Zealand. • The branding of our butter and. pheese needed more care, instead ofbeing put on anywhere. On the question of experiments, Professor Riddet urged that, if the factories wanted to experiment, they should keep their experimental products in this country and not send them. Home, There was little to be gained by .sending single experimental consignments Home; experimental work. had to be done o'ver a period of time before reasonable conclusion could be drawn. Concluding, the speaker again urged the necessity for continued improvement in the quality of our produce, and asked managers always to bear in mind the advice they received from the Dairy Division and the Marketing Department at Home.