Our Heritage

1886

Henry Reynolds opens a butter factory in Waikato.

Inspired by the tattoo on a sailor’s arm, Reynolds chooses the anchor as his brand mark – symbolising safe arrival and reliability. The Anchor brand is born

1888

Anchor wins gold at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition.

1896

Reynolds sells Anchor to the New Zealand Dairy Association. This includes eight factories across Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Taranaki producing 300 tonnes of butter.

1900

Anchor registers its trademark.

1901

Production of Anchor milk powder begins in Makino.

1911

Daily Mail runs a front page story about New Zealand butter, the “finest butter obtainable” that comes from grass-fed cows and produced under strict government supervision.

1919

New Zealand Dairy Association amalgamates with Waikato Co-operative Dairy Company to form New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, giving farmers the power to take New Zealand’s dairy products to the world.

1920

The Breakthrough Years of Export

Up to 90% of New Zealand’s dairy exports go to the UK, where Anchor is the best-selling butter.

Anchor is known for brand slogans such as “the leading brand of the choicest butter from the loveliest dairy pastures in the world” and “fresh as a sea breeze, pure as the sunshine”.

1927

The Dairy Research Institute of New Zealand is founded to pioneer use of technology and champion advances in dairy production. This later becomes the Fonterra Research and Development Centre.

1950

Rationing in UK

Branded products are removed from shelves due to the war. With exports dropping drastically, Anchor diversifies and expands its product range to include cheese.

In New Zealand, new technology extends shelf life of Anhydrous Milk Fat, making it possible for cream - based foods to be shipped to troops on the other side of the globe.

1951

Iconic milk tankers debut at farms across New Zealand for fresh milk collection.

1954

Rationing ends in the UK and Anchor products return to its shelves.

1970

The world’s first soft spreadable butter is developed by the Dairy Research Institute of New Zealand.

1973

Anchor widens global reach with exports to Asia and launches in Sri Lanka two years later.

1982

Anchor’s ground breaking innovation UHT cream in aerosol cans takes the industry and market by storm.

1988

With deregulation of town milk, the distribution of glass milk bottles is discontinued. This also marks the arrival of Anchor milk.

2001

Fonterra Co-Operative Group Limited is established following the merger of Kiwi Co-Operative Dairies with New Zealand Dairy Group. Owned by 10,500 farmers, it is now the country’s largest company.

2009

Fonterra and Sanitarium partnered in February 2009 to provide a free school breakfast of Anchor milk and Sanitarium Weet-Bix to decile 1 to 4 schools twice a week. The NZ Government joined us as a partner in May 2013 which enabled the programme to be extended to every school day and include all schools decile 1 to 10.

KickStart Breakfast currently provides the goodness of Weetbix and Anchor milk to over 950 breakfast clubs around the country.

2010

Anchor launches in China, one of the largest dairy markets in the world.

2013

The Light Proof™ milk bottle hits the shelves.

Anchor Milk now keeps fresh-tasting longer.

2016

Fonterra launches Anchor Food Professionals, a new global foodservice brand aimed at helping businesses improve profitability and reduce waste.

2017

Anchor introduces the Protein+ range of products in New Zealand.

Anchor is sold in more than 80 countries worldwide.