QUALITY OF CHEESE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VIII, Issue 352, 21 August 1930, Page 6

QUALITY OF CHEESE.

ONLY THE BEST.

Tatua Chairman’s Views. “ We want to make an article that will maintain and extend our market at Home,” said Mr. W. Darrall, chairman of directors of the Tatua Dairy Company, at the annual meeting of suppliers on Wednesday. The company made nearly 1000 tons of cheese during the season, or oneeightieth of all the cheese made in New Zealand. Some of the reports the company had received during the year regarding shipments of its cheese were the best it had ever received, but others I were not so good. Every factory in New Zealand must make good cheese. The whole industry must endeavour to tone up its output in order to maintain its markets, otherwise the demand for New Zealand cheese would fall off.

Mr. N. Dey : I think it should be made compulsory for every shed to have a cooler, and there should be a more rigid inspection of sheds and machines. I do not think the inspectors get round enough.

The Chairman : I think only one or two of our suppliers have not coolers installed. Just at the present time suppliers are willing to do anything to improve the quality of their milk. If the price of butter were higher they might tell us it was more convenient for them to supply a butter factory if we told them what to do. At the present time they are keen to supply our factory. We have gone very fully into the question of grading, milk and it is not such a simple question as it seems. We will lend a man money to put his shed in order rather than have him go on in the way it is. We do not like to put a hardship on any man, but I do not think any supplier has the right to bring a second-class article to the factory. Our instructions to the manager are that he is to exercise a very rigid inspection of the milk. If it is not of a high enough standard it can go home again. (Applause.) Mr. W. C. Woodley : Most of the reports on cheese stress the fact that not enough time is put into manufacture of it in the factory. If all the milk was delivered in the hours suggested would that remedy the defects in quality?

The Chairman : If the milk is there by a reasonable hour it will assist the quality, but I am not going to say it will solve the problem. He explained that even at the laboratories and special factories where the greatest care in making cheese was taken they had not been able to make cheese entirely free from defects. The experts hoped to have some useful deductions in the future. They could not say for certain that if they got a superfine raw material into the factory they could make superfine cheese, but if they could not get to the top of the tree they could still get higher than they were at present. In fairness to 'the staff he wished to say that the cheese industry was faced with difficulties that were not apparent 20 years ago. In the old days it seemed easier to make good cheese.