2 BULLETIN" 456, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



agers of chain stores, retailers, restaurant and hotel proprietors, offi- 

 cials of produce exchanges and butter boards, the official butter in- 

 spectors of the exchanges, managers of cold-storage warehouses, and 

 officials of transportation companies. 



UNIFORM QUALITY OF BUTTER AN IMPORTANT MARKET 

 REQUIREMENT. 



A frequent complaint made by the dealers and distributors in the 

 markets is a lack of uniformity of the butter produced by many 

 creameries, and an increasing quantity at certain seasons of inferior 

 butter which is known as "undergrades." An inspection of this but- 

 ter indicated that the inferior quality was often due to the use of 

 cream of poor quality and to some extent to faulty manufacturing 

 methods. 



The requirements of various markets differ widely in some particu- 

 lars, and butter of certain characteristics which is acceptable on some 

 markets may meet serious objection on others. An illustration of this 

 variation is found in New York and Philadelphia where certain con- 

 suming classes require butter of light color and salt, a firm waxy 

 body, and a quick, fresh, sweet, clean flavor, while in Baltimore, 

 Washington, and the markets of the South, the consumers generally 

 prefer a deep yellow color, medium to heavy salt, and a reasonably 

 fresh, clean flavor. Some markets require a high-flavored, firm- 

 bodied, well-made piece of butter. Creamery men would do well to 

 pay more attention to the importance of producing butter of the qual- 

 ity demanded hj critical markets if they wish to obtain the highest 

 market prices for their products. They should also know the require- 

 ments of the various markets and the channels of trade through 

 which each grade of butter reaches that trade which demands it. 



In the larger markets there are buyers for every grade of butter. 

 The large retail chain store and chain restaurant s} T stems in many 

 cities often are confronted with the problem of obtaining large sup- 

 plies of butter of uniform quality for their trade. They usually 

 have been unable to buy directly from local country creameries or 

 to obtain their supplies from the smaller jobbers and have been 

 obliged, therefore, to buy from the larger wholesale receivers or cen- 

 tralizing creameries which may have large quantities of butter of a 

 uniform quality. The retail chain store system is becoming an im- 

 portant factor in retail butter distribution. In some of the larger 

 cities 40 per cent or more of the butter is retailed by chain stores. In 

 many of the larger cities very satisfactory sales might be made to these 

 stores by country creameries, if they produced butter of uniform 

 quality and concentrated their product either at points within the 

 areas of production or on the market where the chain store buyers 

 could obtain such grades and quantities as the} 7 require. The employ- 



