Our stories

Fonterra farmer-owners Tony and Fran Allcock have set up New Zealand’s very first “mootel”, saying it not only helps the environment, but it’s also kept their cows happy and business healthy.

Fonterra and Nestlé are teaming up with DairyNZ to expand a promising plantain trial to help improve waterways and reduce on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Fonterra partnered with Visy, Auckland Council, and Astron to install new optical sorters which use light and near-infrared technology to read the reflective signal from each object.

In the seven years that Fonterra and the Department of Conservation (DOC) have been working together through Living Water, important advancements have been made to help regenerate New Zealand’s precious natural resources.

Fonterra’s Health and Wellbeing team have proven they’re industry-leading, winning the WorkSafe New Zealand best initiative to address a work-related health risk at the New Zealand Workplace Health and Safety Awards.

“We wanted to improve the farm and do our bit for the environment” is Manawatu farmer Grant Bell’s response when he’s asked why he converted 4ha of his property into an impressive wetland.

October 31st is just around the corner and while bats are symbolic for the spooky season we call Halloween, it’s not the reason they’re important to Fonterra.

It might be whitebait season right now but a community in Northland is more set on making new homes for the silvery-white fish than catching them.

They’re hot off the press and intended to help take the heat out of climate change.

Anchor has added to its Blue range, with a new 2L bottle made from sugarcane. Why sugarcane? Because it’s natural, renewable and sustainably-sourced.

We’re switching to solar power at sites across the globe to further reduce our footprint and stay at the forefront of low-emissions food production.

It’s full steam ahead on wood pellets as our Te Awamutu site takes the next step in its transition away from coal.

Fonterra has recently signed up as a foundation donor partner to the newly created New Zealand Food Network.

As parts of New Zealand still face a long recovery from a severe drought, it’s important now more than ever to stay focussed on our water goals.

In a step towards a potential solution to dairy farm emissions, we’ve partnered with Sea Forest to see if using seaweed in cows’ feed can reduce greenhouse gasses.

Could cows be their own methane solution? It’s the million-dollar question for New Zealand’s largest industry: how can we stop cows from burping?

New Zealand’s first carbonzero milk, Simply Milk, hits supermarket shelves this week, meaning Kiwis can now enjoy their milk and have the satisfaction of helping the environment.

How our Te Awamutu team is doing its bit to save fuel, money and the environment.

It remains one of the world's most controversial (and misunderstood) plants, but hemp has not only proven itself as a versatile natural fibre to make a wide range of products, from shoes, clothing, to paper, it’s now revealed itself as the perfect crop for Fonterra.

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on our everyday lives. What’s also really interesting is how it’s shaping how we think about our weekly shop.

Following a comprehensive study into using electricity to replace coal at its Stirling site in Southland, the Co-operative has found wood biomass to be a more viable option.

Sustainability is a term that’s frequently used in and around our Co-op. We talk about helping our suppliers to farm sustainably, securing a sustainable milk supply, supporting sustainable communities and catchments and ensuring our products and packaging are sustainably produced and used.

Addressing climate change is one of the most challenging global issues facing the dairy industry, and it’s a key focus for Fonterra.

Ngāi Tahu Farm Manager Ash-Leigh Campbell has been named as the recipient of the 2020 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award.

Last year we introduced a new purpose and a new strategy. Since then we’ve made changes to how we’re organised and moved from two big global businesses to three regional, customer-led businesses.

72% of New Zealanders are concerned about the build-up of packaging waste in our environment. That’s why making our packaging more sustainable is one of our priorities.

Christmas Day 2019 won’t be one that the family of dairy farming stalwart Tony Wilding will forget in a hurry.

Sustainability is trending among consumers - and for good reason.

Trish Rankin, the 2019 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year, attended last month’s Harvard Business School’s Agribusiness Seminar in Boston.

When the great great grandfather of Wairarapa dairy farmer Jason Christensen came to New Zealand he wouldn’t have imagined that 140 years later his family would still own and operate a farm he built from the ground up.

New Zealand’s dairy industry are grappling with huge challenges around sustainability

It's that time of year when we take a look back at the highlights that helped make 2019 what it was before turning the page to 2020.

One year on, Rob Fenwick, Chair of our inaugural Sustainability Advisory Panel, reflects on the sustainability challenges facing the Co-op and how the panel is advising the Co-op’s roadmap towards a sustainable future.

We’re offering schools a chance to ditch plastic single-use straws to help the environment.

A healthy environment is essential if we are to continue meeting our customers’ expectations and getting the most value from our milk.

We care about water. That’s why we’re helping regenerate New Zealand's waterways.

Fonterra is backing dairy farmers to continue improving freshwater quality while asking the Government to reconsider some of its proposals.

Because what gets measured, gets managed

We have a role to play in being part of the solution.

The saying many hands make light work rung true when 60 volunteers recently gathered at a farm in the Bay of Plenty to plant 3000 trees.

Fonterra’s Director of Sustainability Carolyn Mortland looks at finding a diet that’s good for you and good for the planet.

World Environment Day is a chance to highlight the state our environment is in and the critical work that’s needed to make sure it thrives.

To solve some of dairy farming’s biggest sustainability challenges.

Taranaki farmers Damian and Jane Roper were announced as the winners of the 2019 Fonterra Responsible Dairying Awards on May 11, receiving the newly created John Wilson Memorial Trophy.

Taranaki farmer, teacher and staunch environmentalist Trish Rankin has been announced as the 2019 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.

Reducing emissions is not a nice to have, it’s a must do. But what will it take to transition?

They may be tiny, slimy and reclusive, but the Canterbury mudfish are well worth protecting.

Fonterra is a finalist in the prestigious CR Reporting Awards 2019, which recognise the very best in corporate reporting worldwide.

Fonterra’s Waikato and Bay of Plenty tankers are now all up and running on biodiesel thanks to Z Energy.

To reduce pallet waste, Fonterra’s National Pallet Manager Lawrence Hooker has been working with supplier Timpack to redesign Fonterra’s pallets.

New Zealand has the target of being carbon neutral by 2050 – just over 30 years away.

CAREX’s Catherine Febria and Kristy Hogsden reflect on the amazing successes the partnership has created over the past four years to improve the nation’s waterways and what’s ahead.

New Zealand produces enough food for 50 million people. Pretty impressive for a country of 4.7 million. But with 9 billion mouths to feed by 2050, the world needs to produce more nutrition – 30% more.

Fonterra’s Director of Sustainability, Carolyn Mortland, talks about the circular economy approach and how Fonterra is looking at ways to adopt this model.

Brian and Pirkko Gallagher are passionate about sustainable farming. Not because they have to be – because they want to be and know it’s the right thing to do.

Enhancing the production and productivity of New Zealand’s primary sector, while maintaining and improving the quality of the country’s land and water for future generations. That’s the mission of the ‘Our Land and Water’ National Science Challenge.

On November 11th, 16 Fonterra farms all across New Zealand had more than 8,400 visitors who wanted to learn about how farmers work and how they care for their animals.

Moo2Shampoo has proven what can be done when Kiwi businesses are bold.

For many, agriculture and its emissions are an easy target in the debate about how the country can meet its obligations to the Paris Agreement. Agriculture is New Zealand’s biggest emitter but it’s important to separate fact from fiction in understanding the role livestock play and what can be done about it to help the country reach its goals.

It’s a beautiful thing when farmers and the community come together and join forces to restore a local jewel of the environment, providing a home for hundreds of native plants and threatened wildlife.

When you talk to Matamata dairy farmers Rod and Sandra McKinnon about environmental sustainability it’s easy to understand why the couple won the 2017/18 Waikato Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Twenty-one farms left reeling after the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake have recently been kitted out with some new technology - part of a programme designed to get their farms back to the same, if not better, state than they were before the big shake.

This week is World Water Week and 3,000 decision-makers, scientists and experts from over 130 countries are converging on Stockholm, Sweden to develop plans to preserve this precious natural resource.

Keith Woodford explains why methane and carbon dioxide should be treated separately rather than being put together in a single emissions trading scheme.

Want to understand the different greenhouse gases? Fonterra have taken a deeper look at how each should be treated. Discover more with our research.

Utilising the genes of animals that produce less nitrogen could provide farmers with a breakthrough in managing on-farm greenhouse gas emissions. Two research projects are currently looking to see if there’s a link between the nitrogen content of milk and animal emissions and whether it’s possible to identify and then replicate genes in animals that might control how much nitrogen an animal gives off.

This month, Fonterra marks the one-year anniversary of TIAKI – our sustainable dairying programme that helps farmers make their operations more environmentally compliant. In doing so we will also celebrate more than 1,000 Fonterra farmers who now have a tailored improvement plan to help address environmental risks on-farm. Achieving this wasn’t easy and while a significant amount of progress was made pre-Tiaki it often felt like we were trying push a rock uphill. We knew there had to be a better way.

In Global Operations, the part of Fonterra I’m responsible for, our milk tankers travel over 100 million km per year, collect milk from a farm every nine seconds, deliver that milk to a factory every 24 seconds and we close the doors on a shipping container of product every three minutes. Product that goes to millions of consumers in more than 100 countries around the world.

Take a look at Fonterra’s Climate Change 101 infographic to help get a better understanding on the on-going changes to our climate.

Scientific research shows water quality in Taranaki is improving in record setting leaps and bounds. Find out how the Taranaki Regional Council is working with farmers to continue these impressive water quality trends.

We have measured greenhouse gas emissions on 100 farms across New Zealand for two years. Find out how Fonterra is using this to combat climate change.

Agriculture plays an important role in tackling climate change. Find out how Fonterra has the opportunity to help New Zealand meet its Paris commitments.

Director of Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Melissa Clark-Reynolds explains why she thinks this is a myth.

James Hansen, who was the first man to raise concerns about global warming, is telling us we need to do more to tackle the issue. Find out more.

Living Water is designed to come up with solutions for farmers, communities, freshwater and ecosystems. Read more about Fonterra's innovative initiative.

Find out why rural economist Nathan Penny believes that the Emissions Trading Scheme hides an opportunity for dairy farmers.

Jonathon Porritt says he noticed a big difference in the approach to climate change among New Zealanders. Find out why Fonterra is committed to the cause.

Research results confirm that seaweed reduces or even prevents methane emissions from dairy cows. Meet the scientists who are leading this research.

“Most folks don't understand soil and its potential as a carbon sink.” Find out how Jeff Creque believes agriculture is key in combatting climate change.

How much water is too much or not enough? Find out how Fonterra is using innovative technology to farm for the future by finding the irrigation sweet spot.

Wetlands play an important role in creating healthy and biodiverse habitats. Commonly described as the ‘kidneys of the earth – they help protect and improve water quality by filtering nutrients and waste, provide fish and wildlife habitats, while also helping to store water in times of flooding and maintaining surface water flow during dry periods.

Climate change ambassadors to work within their local communities to help farmers better understand the challenge of climate change.

Fonterra farmers have a long history of success in the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards and that tradition continued at the 2018 national finals on May 12. Check out the 2018 Award Winners.

Fonterra is partnering with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) to make an industry-first move and convert the coal boiler at its Brightwater site so that it can be co-fired with wood biomass.

New data indicates that the on-going work by farmers to protect our waterways is beginning to show. Over 98% of all significant waterways have been fenced and 95% of our farmers completed nitrogen management reports. Read more details and watch a TV1 news story with Our Stories.

Caring for the environment isn’t something that can be done independently – nutrition, the community and the environment are all interlinked.

The Tiaki Sustainable Dairying Programme helps farmers stay ahead of expectations and requirements while increasing standards for customer and the dairy market. Read more about Tiaki on our website.

Forming partnerships with community groups and schools is an essential part of Fonterra’s efforts to protect and improve New Zealand’s environment.

Our farmers are doing valuable work to help improve the environment. This year, a few of them were recognised for their achievements at the Southland Community Environment Awards. Read more about their work on our website.

A 25-strong team of staff from Fonterra, Canterbury Waterway Rehabilitation Experiment (CAREX), Department of Conservation, Selwyn District Council, Environment Canterbury (ECan) and Wai-ora Forest Landscapes recently pitched in to help one of our Fonterra farmers plant around 400 plants along a spring on his farm.

In a place just outside of Hobbiton, there are grassy mounds that are being used for a different purpose than to house hobbits.

Over the past few years Fonterra dairy farmer Stu Muir has been restoring the once stagnant stream on the boundary of his Waikato farm to create 20 whitebait spawning ponds with grasses, flaxes, kahikatia, kowhai, mahoe and other wetland trees.

Finding the balance between making a profit and farming sustainably has always been at the forefront of Fonterra farmer Paul Warneford’s mind.

We recently caught up with the Fonterra sharemilker Nigel Gardiner whose on-farm sustainability work led to the discovery of endangered native mussels, or Kākahi, two years ago.

Sixty to seventy volunteers braved the wet weather last month in an effort to help maintain the environment of the spring which is part of the Waihou River and known to be one of New Zealand’s most pristine waterways.

Tyres, plastic bags and odd jandals were among the two truckloads of rubbish collected during a two hour clean up at Edgecumbe’s Thornton beach.

The spring sunshine shone in true Southland style as more than 300 people banded together to spruce up the Edendale and Wyndham communities.

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Fonterra's Maungaturoto manufacturing site in Northland, New Zealand has recently become home to a rare Australasian Bittern.

Learn more about the ways that Fonterra farms are using their skills and knowledge to lead at the forefront of sustainable farming techniques and innovative farming technology.

Jimmy Gerritsen recently invested in solar power to make his business friendlier to the environment. Find out how you could do the same.

Blending traditional practice with modern technology to farm sustainably.

Three Fonterra farming families are in the running to win the National Supreme title at the 2017 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Our Living Water partnership with the Department of Conservation (DOC) is supporting NIWA and local hapū to further their understanding of healthy eel habitats on the Wairua River in Northland.

Two more kiwi have found a safe haven in Northland thanks,in part, to a group of Fonterra farmers and Fonterra’s Living Water partnership with the Department of Conservation.