Greenpeace Aotearoa has sued Fonterra for misleading customers.

Fonterra has claimed that Anchor butter is “100 percent New Zealand grass-fed” when up to 20 percent of a Fonterra dairy cow’s diet could be imported palm kernels linked to the deforestation of rainforests in Southeast Asia.

A Greenpeace spokesperson served Fonterra with the lawsuit at the dairy co-operative’s Auckland headquarters.

“In yet another example of blatant greenwash from Fonterra, they have been trying to convince customers that the Anchor butter they’re buying is 100 percent New Zealand grass-fed when this is far from the reality,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn.

“Fonterra is misleading their customers through this branding, presumably to make themselves appear more environmentally friendly and sustainable.”

They said that Fonterra claimed to be 100 percent grass-fed to downplay their reliance on palm kernel and other fodder crops used for ‘intensive winter grazing’, which can see cows wallowing chest-deep in mud and excrement.

Palm kernel is a product of the palm oil industry, an industry known for rainforest deforestation, human rights abuses, illegal operation and driving rare wildlife towards extinction.

“We think shoppers would be shocked to know that the block of ‘grass-fed’ butter they pick up at the supermarket could be linked to the destruction of orangutan habitats in Southeast Asia.”

New Zealand is the world’s largest importer of palm kernels, with the dairy industry importing nearly two million tonnes annually. Much of this has been imported by AgriFeeds, which exclusively sells palm kernels to Fonterra-owned Farm Source stores.

“The misleading information on Fonterra’s packaging is a real punch in the guts to the many farmers and brands that have done the work to end their use of palm kernel. Fonterra is stuck in the past and trying to hide behind greenwash. They’ve been misleading customers for years, and it’s time for them to face the consequences.”

Activists also scaled Fonterra’s Te Rapa Dairy Factory, unfurling a 160-square-metre banner reading, ‘Fonterra’s methane cooks the climate.’

“As the world’s biggest exporter of dairy products, New Zealand has a huge role in this story. That requires us to demand better from our biggest dairy company, Fonterra.”

In August, Fonterra was named New Zealand’s worst climate polluter for the fourth year running, worse than fossil fuel companies such as Z Energy and BP. The dairy cooperative has also been ranked the world’s sixth-worst polluting livestock company by methane emissions.

“It is not too late to take meaningful action on climate change. New Zealand’s outsized, superheating dairy herd is only sustained through the excessive use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and palm kernel.”

Fonterra could cut methane emissions by ending its reliance on palm kernel, phasing out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, and reducing herd sizes.

O’Flynn added that supporting farmers to shift to more plant-based and ecological farming practices was entirely within Fonterra’s control, and their overseas customers demanded it. Unless they act to cut their methane emissions, Fonterra will be left behind as more and more people expect meaningful action on climate change.

Greenpeace also launched a petition calling on Fonterra to end their use of palm kernel, which now has more than 8,000 signatures.