Why Fonterra accepted defeat in the dairy aisle
OPINION: Fonterra's sale of its consumer dairy business to Lactalis is a clear sign of the co-operative’s failure to compete in the branded consumer market.
Greenpeace claims that new legal documents from Fonterra Brands reveal that the dairy giant has removed labels from its Anchor butter packaging which the environment lobby says falsely claimed that Fonterra dairy cows are ‘100% New Zealand grass-fed’.
In late September 2024, Greenpeace announced that it was suing Fonterra for ‘false’ claims on the dairy giant’s Anchor Butter packaging, which claimed to be ‘100% New Zealand grass-fed’. The lawsuit was met with vehement denial from the dairy giant, even though its own grassfed standard, available online, allows for up to 20% of a cow’s diet by dry matter volume to be palm kernel.
However, Fonterra Brands’ statement of defence has revealed that since the lawsuit was announced, it has removed the contested logo from the butter packaging, in a move Greenpeace says is an admission of guilt. The logo now reads ‘grass-fed’, it claims.
