MARGARINE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 87, 16 August 1913, Page 4

MARGARINE.

A leading firm of English importers forwarded to Melbourne recently some boxes of Dutch margarine, with\a letter which stated that the consumption of margarine in the large towns of the United Kingdom, fostered by immense, improvements in the methods of maiui-i

facture, has made such enormous strides during the past two years that it has become a serious factor in thoi Australasian butter trade of thel United Kingdom, and unless something is done to check its growth, the ■ position of Australasian butter in this country may soon become critical. .It would doubtless astonish the butter' makers of these newer lands to real-

ise the scientific knowledge and up-to-date machinery employed in a modern | margarine factory. It is useless trying to persuade any British Govern-] incut at this time of day to hinder] or restrict the sale of what is, after] all, a healthy, nutritious food, by prescribing its sale if made of the same color as butter. The view is gencr-j ally held that margarine is the enemy] of all blitter. This is not quite the position. It does not compete at all with choice quality butter, only secondary and inferior qualities find it a direct competitor. Danish, Swedish, New Zealand, very choice Australian, and other high quality butters do not ] feel the direct competition of mar-' garine any more than Scotch beeU feels the effect of the imported Argentine frozen beef. Continuing, the writer of the letter says:—“The most natural and direct way for Australia to overcome the competition of margarine is to so improve the general quality that, like New Zealand, it may remain above the margarine line of attack. In Britain blended butter has become a necessity, and we fear nothing can now prevent it developing further. It is impossible to get any trustworthy figures of the proportion of Australian or New Zealand butter imported into England which is .used in this way by blenders.” The stern necessity for keeping up a high standard of quality is emphasised in the above.