Anchor Speciality Milks Go Carbonzero™

Anchor Organic, Anchor Protein+, Anchor Calci+, Anchor Zero Lacto and Anchor Silver Top will roll out this month as Toitū carbonzero™ certified.

• Anchor predicts roughly 10 million litres of the new carbonzero certified milk will be consumed by New Zealanders in 2021, another positive step forward for Anchor in its sustainability action
• Anchor has worked with independent certifier Toitū Envirocare for the initiative, which has seen the brand measure, establish reduction plans, and offset its emissions for these products from grass to glass.

Auckland, New Zealand: Anchor’s range of specialty milks are being certified as Toitū carbonzero™ this November, as part of its commitment to reduce its footprint.

The specialty milks are Anchor Organic, Anchor Protein+, Anchor Zero Lacto, Anchor Silver Top, and Anchor Calci+ - the same delicious milk but now with added benefits of Toitū carbonzero™ certification.

Anchor has worked with AgResearch and independent certifier, Toitū Envirocare for the initiative. Toitū Envirocare is one of the world’s leading environmental certification businesses. Toitū Envirocare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, a Government-owned Crown Research Institute.

AgResearch measured the carbon footprint for the specialty milks range, which includes all greenhouse gas emissions across the products’ full lifecycle, and Toitū verified the measurement and issued the certification, which among other things, saw Anchor develop, and commit to, an emissions reduction plan for the range, and offset to achieve net zero emissions.

This announcement follows hot on the heels of ‘Simply Milk’, the first carbonzero certified milk in the Southern Hemisphere, spearheaded by Fonterra in partnership with FoodStuffs North Island. Senior Manager Sustainability Solutions at Fonterra, Lara Phillips, credits the series of announcements as a signal that Fonterra is serious about acting on sustainability.

Senior Manager Sustainability Solutions at Fonterra, Lara Phillips added: “We are serious about putting sustainability at the heart of our business, and we are extremely proud to share our latest environmental initiative with Kiwis. We are committed to continuing to reduce our emissions, and in the past four years, we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 4% at its fresh white milk sites. In addition, Fonterra has provided farmers with farm-specific greenhouse gas emission profiles, is working alongside farmers to develop farm environmental plans, and we have an innovation pipeline to find solutions to reduce on-farm emissions further. We are also working to a target of 30% reduction by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050 in our global manufacturing operations.”

“Anchor Organic milk is produced on AsureQuality certified speciality farms, ensuring the cows have a grass-based diet and are free from synthetics, antibiotics and hormones – and now this milk has the added benefit that it is also Toitū carbonzero™ certified.”

As part of the Toitū carbonzero™ certification programme, Anchor has procured carbon offsets from three high quality projects approved by Toitū.

The three credit projects support native forest regeneration in Kaikoura, New Zealand, a windfarm in New Caledonia, and a solar energy installation in India, respectively. As climate change is a global challenge, Anchor appreciates that to deliver globally positive outcomes, solutions must span beyond our backyard.

The Toitū carbonzero™ programme has secured significant global endorsement and is accredited by JAS-ANZ (Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand), accepted by the CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) and the UK Environment Agency and was the world’s first carbon certification programme accredited under ISO 14065, the international standard for greenhouse gas verification bodies.

CEO of Toitū Envirocare, Becky Lloyd, believes that action taken by Anchor is a noteworthy step - and shows that everyday, household items, can become carbonzero™.

Toitū Envirocare CEO, Becky Lloyd commented: “We set very rigorous standards for businesses we work alongside. All members must meet our science-based and accredited measurement and reduction requirements to earn Toitū certification, and only then purchase required offsets. We have worked alongside Fonterra helping them understand their emissions, and then putting a programme in place that measures, manages, and mitigates those emissions.

“We understand the impact from grass to glass, and this will help Anchor make further reductions in future. I’m very pleased to say that New Zealanders will be able to purchase Toitū carbonzero™ certified milk from a major, New Zealand brand. We are delighted to see Anchor taking a positive step forward in this space and we encourage other New Zealand businesses to jump on board and do the same.”

All five variants will be available across multiple retailers, supermarkets, restaurants, and cafes, nationwide aside from Anchor Calci+, which will be available with carbonzero™ certification in the North Island only[i].

[i] carbonzero™ is available across all New Zealand excluding Calci+ which is only available in the North Island.

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