New Zealand’s first “carbon zero milk” has been dropped by Fonterra as the dairy giant admits it did not meet emissions reduction targets last year.
The Simply Milk range was launched in 2020, and as part of the carbon neutral certification, Fonterra was to reduce emissions by 2.2% per bottle by 2024 from farming, manufacturing, distribution, retail and disposal.
However, this target was not met and Fonterra has now rebranded the products to focus on donating 10c a bottle to social supermarkets instead.
Last week, 1News was unable to find copies of public announcements made in previous years about the carbon-zero product expansion on Fonterra’s website.
Consumer NZ investigations leader Rebecca Styles said Kiwis had seen marketing “getting ahead of action”.
“It was very surprising to see it [Simply Milk] change. It’s a big pivot really. It feels like an abandonment of green claims on products.”
Many customers opted to pay more over the years for these products to be environmentally conscious, she said, instead of opting for cheaper brands.
“The promise hasn’t been fulfilled really; you’ve been misled.
“A busy shopper in the supermarket doesn’t have time to assess the claims on every package and they should be able to trust them.”
Styles said that, in the case of Simply Milk, Fonterra had been doing the offsetting but not the reduction of emissions.
Simply Milk’s carbon neutral certification included offsetting some emissions, from funding South Island forest regeneration to wind power projects in India, according to past information on Fonterra’s web pages.
“To be a net carbon zero, you need to be able to do both,” Styles said.
Beyond Fonterra, in her opinion there was “little punishment” for companies accused of greenwashing in New Zealand.
“There’s a huge movement in Europe to be a lot tougher on green claims and we’re seeing a lot of action there, and even an Australian regulator is trying to ping businesses for these misleading green claims but we’re just not seeing it here in New Zealand.”
In a statement, Fonterra’s Oceania marketing and innovation director Renée Milkop-Kerr told 1News that achieving Toitū net carbon zero certification for Simply Milk required greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets and offsetting remaining (“net”) annual emissions through the purchase of carbon credits.
Fonterra: 10c donation to supermarkets ‘easier to understand’
Fonterra said emissions did decrease since the product was launched but “the emissions target for Simply Milk has not been achieved”.
Milkop-Kerr also said that since the product launched, “the global legal and regulatory environment relating to green claims, and use of carbon credits to offset emissions, has and continues to evolve at pace”.
“Fonterra decided to pivot away from its use of zero-carbon claims due to a lack of consumer understanding… Listening to feedback from New Zealanders, it was evident that offering a 10-cent a bottle donation to Social Supermarkets is more appealing and easier to understand.”
Fonterra had met initial requirements to be Toitū net carbon zero certified but: “Their 2.2% reduction target was set over a six-year period; however, they withdrew before reaching this point” assessors Toitū Envirocare told 1News.
“Toitū Envirocare follows a rigorous, internationally recognised certification process that undergoes independent auditing and accreditation by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JASANZ).”
Toitū also said: “We stand against greenwashing, which is why we prioritise transparency — even when things don’t go to plan… We also stand against greenhushing, where the fear of criticism leads companies to shy away from sharing their targets or progress or learning or failures.”
Overall, New Zealand’s on-farm carbon footprint had historically been one of the world’s lowest for milk production.
