Fonterra's Response to 1News Story Regarding Simply Milk
On Monday 3 March 2025, 1News ran a story regarding Fonterra's decision to adjust the focus of Simply Milk to supporting the New Zealand community through Social Supermarkets.
Unfortunately, the full story was not covered. Fonterra is committed to being open with our customers on the products that they are purchasing, and that is why we shared the change with consumers via its Fonterra website on 16 January 2025 and the Simply Milk website, as well as making it clear on the product packaging.
Here’s the statement we provided:
Fonterra launched Simply Milk in 2020 to respond to customer demand for a sustainable option, and to provide consumers with a certified net carbon zero product, with the backing of Toitū Envirocare.
Achieving Toitū net carbon zero certification for Simply Milk requires measurement, reporting and management of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the product, in the form of emissions reductions targets. It also requires offsetting remaining (“net”) annual emissions through the purchase of carbon credits.
While the emissions target for Simply Milk has not been achieved, emissions related to the product have decreased since it was launched.
The remaining net annual emissions were offset by the purchase of carbon credits.
In 2023, Fonterra launched new organisation-wide Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduction targets that have been validated by the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi)*. This is supported by Fonterra’s Climate Roadmap that outlines the actions the Co-op will take towards its 2030 targets, and ambition to be net zero by 2050.
In the time since Simply Milk launched, Fonterra’s strategic choice – build on our sustainability position – and 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 seeks to balance consumer demand for more sustainable options with best practice in relation to offsetting and related claims. Accordingly, Fonterra decided to pivot away from its use of carbon zero claims due 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 because it’s meaningful to consumers and gives them a chance to make a positive impact through their purchase, compared to ‘net carbon zero’ which had lower appeal and understanding.
*More information on our SBTi can be found at https://www.fonterra.com/nz/en/our-stories/articles/fonterras-climate-targets-get-tick-of-approval-by-science-based-target-initiative.htmlSBTi targets are aligned to the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.