Greenpeace settlement forces New Zealand’s biggest dairy exporter to remove disputed packaging from Anchor butter.
Fonterra has settled a lawsuit brought by Greenpeace Aotearoa over claims that its Anchor butter was “100% New Zealand grass-fed.” As part of the agreement, the dairy giant admitted the label may have misled consumers and confirmed it has removed the wording from packaging sold in New Zealand.
The dispute centred on the fact that Fonterra suppliers are permitted to feed cows supplementary products in addition to grass, including palm kernel expeller. Greenpeace argued that using the phrase “100% grass-fed” was inaccurate because the cooperative’s own feeding standards allow up to 20% of a cow’s diet to come from non-grass feed sources.
Greenpeace filed the case in 2024 under New Zealand’s Fair Trading Act, claiming the packaging amounted to corporate greenwashing. The environmental group said imported palm kernel is linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia and argued that consumers were being led to believe the butter came exclusively from pasture-fed cows.
In its response, Fonterra acknowledged that the label was “likely to mislead” some shoppers, particularly those unfamiliar with how dairy cows are fed. The company had already begun phasing out the wording in April 2025, months before reaching an out-of-court settlement in March 2026.
The case could have wider implications for dairy marketing across New Zealand and other export markets, where “grass-fed” claims are increasingly used to attract premium consumers. Analysts say the settlement raises pressure on dairy companies to make sustainability and animal-feeding claims more precise and transparent.
Source: Radio New Zealand – original article and full report
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