New Zealand’s Fonterra admits ‘grass-fed’ label may mislead shoppers after Greenpeace lawsuit

April 1 (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Fonterra said on Wednesday it had settled a lawsuit filed by environmental group Greenpeace by admitting the label on one of its products was likely to mislead some shoppers about what its cows were actually fed.  

Greenpeace Aotearoa, one of New Zealand’s largest environmental organizations, had sued Fonterra in 2024, alleging the dairy giant had misled its customers by claiming that Anchor butter is “100% New Zealand grass-fed.”

Greenpeace had alleged that the label used for butters sold in New Zealand supermarkets between December 2023 and April 2025 was in breach of the law because the cows’ diets included non-grass feed, including palm kernel. 

“An admission of guilt from New Zealand’s biggest company is a massive win against corporate greenwash everywhere. It’s simple: companies shouldn’t be allowed to mislead customers to sell products,” Greenpeace spokesperson Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn said in a statement.

“Palm kernel is a dry, gravelly cow feed that comes from the destroyed paradise rainforests of Southeast Asia. It isn’t grass, and to claim otherwise is misleading and deceptive.”

Fonterra, in its statement, accepted that the use of the label was “likely to mislead some New Zealand consumers, particularly those unaware of the nature of the feeds that are provided to dairy cows.”

The firm said it had removed the label from its Anchor butter packaging.

Shares of Fonterra were 0.3% down, as of 2327 GMT.

(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Rashmi Aich)