In 1972 the New Zealand Dairy Research Institute patented a large machine for mechanising the middle part of cheese making, which had previously involved much manual work. The Cheddarmaster is essentially a conveyor belt that allows semi-automatic drainage of cooked curds and whey, through to salting, mellowing and cutting of the curd into ‘hoops’ or rectangular moulds ready for pressing into 20-kilogram blocks of cheese. Here curds and whey are processed on the Cheddarmaster at the new Kiwi Co-operative dairy factory at Wharero, near Hāwera, in 1974.