Fonterra reaches a settlement with Greenpeace, admitting that its "100% grass-fed" label misled consumers.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra said on Wednesday that it has reached a settlement with Greenpeace over a fast-freezing matter. The company acknowledged that a label on one of its products may mislead some consumers, leading them to misunderstand the actual feed used for its dairy cows.

Greenpeace Aotearoa (New Zealand), one of the largest environmental organizations in New Zealand, filed a lawsuit against Fonterra in 2024, accusing the company of misleading consumers and claiming that Anchor butter is “100% from New Zealand pasture-fed cows.”

Greenpeace claimed that, between December 2023 and April 2025, labels used on butter sold in New Zealand supermarkets violated the law because the cows’ feed included non-pasture ingredients, including palm kernel.

“A major victory against ‘greenwashing’ by businesses everywhere: New Zealand’s biggest company has admitted wrongdoing. The logic is simple: companies should not be allowed to mislead consumers to sell products,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Sinead Dayton-O’fli n, in a statement.

“Palm kernel is a dried, granular cattle feed sourced from damaged tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia. It is not grass, and claiming it is grass is misleading and deceptive.”

In its statement, Fonterra acknowledged that using the label “may mislead some New Zealand consumers, especially those who are not familiar with the ingredients of dairy cow feed.”

The company said it has removed the label from its Anchor butter packaging.

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