New Zealand’s one of the best places to produce dairy in the world. As an island nation in the middle of the South Pacific with plenty of natural open spaces, New Zealand has some of the freshest air in the world. The natural environment is ideal for growing grass, with fertile soil, modearate temperatures and excellent rainfall, as well as abundant sunshine.
New Zealand farm the way nature intended, with cows grazing on lush pastures.
Grass is a natural food source for cows and New Zealand is one of the few places in the world where cows can graze on grass, year-round (grass is 96% of the average cow’s diet as consumed)^. And cows spend over 350 days in a year on pasture. That’s on average 97% of their time - more than anywhere else in the world#.
Cows are the heart of every dairy farm, and their wellbeing means everything to farmers. They are valued and treated with respect throughout their lives, ensuring they are healthy, productive, and well cared for.
Dairy sourced from New Zealand farms meet the Cared for Cows Standard, which sets out the requirements for Fonterra’s management of Animal Health and Wellbeing.
Theres so much goodness in NZ milk that we believe it should be shared with everyone. The goodness of NZ milk creates our Anchor Pure New Zealand Butter and high calcium Anchor Processed Cheddar Cheese
Explore our range of delicious dairy products for you and your family to enjoy.
References
* NielsenIQ Scantrack, New Zealand Total Supermarket Dairy Sales, Value Share MAT to 07-05-23
^Grass is defined as grass, grass silage, hay and forage crops
The Fonterra New Zealand Grass-Fed Standard requires our cows to be 80% grass fed on a dry matter basis and spend 90%+ of non-milking time grazing outdoors at a minimum.
Our cows are 96% grass fed (on an ‘as consumed’ basis on a rolling three-year average – this is equivalent to 89% on a dry weight basis) and spend 97% of non-milking time outdoors.
The Fonterra New Zealand Grass and Pasture Fed Standard is independently certified by AsureQuality. AsureQuality is an independent Conformity Assessment Body accredited by JAS-ANZ
#Of the top 15 dairy exporting countries (based on annual dairy product export volumes in 2023 and including New Zealand), only Ireland operates a similar pasture-based model to New Zealand.
Based on Irish data presented in O’Brien et al. 2018, dairy cows in Ireland have access to pasture, on average, 255 days per year. In New Zealand, data from Fonterra Farm Dairy Records show that our Fonterra New Zealand cows spend, on average, 97% of their non-milking time outside on pasture which is more than 350 days of a year. This is calculated annually and reported as a rolling three-year average.
