New evidence acquired under OIA by Greenpeace has
revealed that Fonterra first requested, and then helped to
write, the Government’s new grass-fed standards, following
the announcement of an anti-greenwash lawsuit targeting the
grass-fed logo on Anchor Butter packaging.
Greenpeace
has received documents which prove that the grass-fed
administrative standards were developed by an industry-led
Technical Advisory Group, composed of dairy and red meat
processors and lobby groups including Fonterra, Silver Fern
Farms, and Beef & Lamb NZ.
These
documents also outline that Fonterra had specifically
advised the government to establish a grass-fed standard to
enable the dairy giant to “protect the existing value
derived from promoting the New Zealand grass-fed
attribute”.
Greenpeace spokesperson
Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn says “Yet again, this Government
is allowing polluters to write policy. Instead of Fonterra
being held accountable for its reliance on rainforest
destroying palm kernel, the government has allowed the
livestock industry to write a grass-fed policy that papers
over its destructive practices with a government-backed seal
of approval.”
“The grass-fed standard that
the government developed with Fonterra, Dairy NZ and others
from the agriculture industry is even more lenient than
Fonterra’s existing standard. It seems abundantly clear
from this recent evidence that when Fonterra is called out,
their response is to rewrite the rulebook in their
favour.”
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The value of the term
“grass-fed” was brought into question in September last
year, when Greenpeace announced that it was suing Fonterra
under the Fair Trading Act for misleading claims on Anchor
Butter packaging. At the time, the packaging claimed to be
‘100% New Zealand grass fed’, while Fonterra’s
grass-fed standard allowed for up to 20% of a dairy cow’s
diet to be palm kernel, a controversial cow feed imported
from palm plantations in Southeast Asia. New Zealand is the
world’s biggest importer of palm kernel globally,
importing almost 2 million tonnes
annually.
An investigation by Rainforest
Action Network in 2024 found 453 active hectares of illegal
palm plantations operating in the Rawa Singkil reserve. Two
major exporters of palm kernel to New Zealand were
implicated in this illegal deforestation – both of whom
supply palm kernel to Fonterra.
“Fonterra
is well aware that their customers – both here and overseas
– will pay a premium for clean and green products,” says
Greenpeace’s Deighton-O’Flynn.
“But it’s not
enough to just put a stamp on a packet of butter or lobby
the government to give its seal of approval. The fact
remains that these products are linked with the destruction
of rare wildlife habitat and precious
rainforests.
“Establishing a government standard for
‘grass-fed’ products is the latest step in Fonterra’s
blatant attempt to cover up their role in environmental
destruction, as well as avoid accountability for misleading
people in the supermarket
aisles.”
