Anchor is a brand of

dairy products Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

that was founded in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1886, and is one of the key brands owned by the New Zealand–based international exporter Fonterra Co-operative Group. In

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, Fonterra uses the Fernleaf brand instead of Anchor.

Anchor by Fonterra

Historically, the Anchor brand of milk products in New Zealand was owned by the New Zealand Dairy Group, which merged with Kiwi Co Operative in 2001 to form Fonterra. As the merger would leave New Zealand with virtually no competition in the domestic dairy sector, government legislation was required for Fonterra to be formed. One of the requirements was that Fonterra must divest its strongest domestic brand, Anchor, in the New Zealand market. This did not affect the brand internationally. The brand was sold to what is currently Goodman Fielder. Between 2001 and 2005, Fonterra grew one of their smaller milk brands which was originally only available in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand, ' Meadow Fresh Milk', into a nationwide brand which provided good competition to the Anchor brand of milk products. In 2005, Fonterra did a brand swap with what is now Goodman Fielder, swapping Meadow Fresh for Anchor, allowing Fonterra to again align its international and domestic dairy brands. On 11 November 2024, Fonterra confirmed that it would be selling several of its consumer brands including Anchor.

Anchor Milk

Fresh Anchor Milk products available in New Zealand are manufactured and marketed by Fonterra Brands, a division of Fonterra. The main plant that processes Anchor milk in New Zealand is in

Takanini Takanini is a southern suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, 28 kilometres southeast of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is home to a Fonterra milk plant, the Addison housing development, as well ...

, Auckland. In addition to the common varieties with differing percentages of

milk fat Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain. Composition Butterfat is mainly composed of triglycerides. Each triglyceride contains three fatty acids. Butt ...

, they also offer "Anchor-Xtra", with extra

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

(marketed to "extra active" parents), and "Mega Milk", with extra

vitamin Vitamins are Organic compound, organic molecules (or a set of closely related molecules called vitamer, vitamers) that are essential to an organism in small quantities for proper metabolism, metabolic function. Nutrient#Essential nutrients, ...

s, as well as extra calcium, marketed for children. In 2013, the Anchor brand was released in China.

Anchor Milk Powder

Anchor Milk Powder is the major Anchor product available in some developing countries, such as

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Anchor Butter and Anchor Cheese

Anchor Butter and Anchor Cheese are sold in New Zealand, but the brand for these products in New Zealand is still owned by a Goodman Fielder subsidiary. For butter and cheese the brand was not returned to Fonterra in the brand swap so not all Anchor branded products are Fonterra products in New Zealand. However, like most dairy products in New Zealand, the milk is still sourced from Fonterra suppliers and for butter and cheese, it is also likely that Fonterra manufactured the products with Goodman Fielder simply packaging the products.

Outside New Zealand

Internationally the Anchor brand is 100% owned by the Fonterra Co-Op Group. It is available in (and manufactured in) many areas including: *

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

In Britain, Anchor block butter was imported from New Zealand until August 2012 when Arla Foods UK transferred production to a local factory in

Westbury, Wiltshire Westbury is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. The town lies below the northwestern edge of Salisbury Plain, about south of Trowbridge and a similar distance north of Warminster. Westbury w ...

, using English cream.

Anchor Spreadable

Anchor Spreadable is one of the brand's specialised products. This butter based spread is softened with canola oil and spreads easily, but marketing claims of its being spreadable direct from the fridge have been questioned. A campaign in 2003 for Anchor Spreadable, created by Jonti Picking, of Weebl and Bob fame, included television ads featuring wobbly cows. Anchor Spreadable, as well as other New Zealand butter products, were banned from import into the EU for a short time. This came after a complaint made to the European Commissioner for Trade,

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson, (born 21 October 1953) is a British politician, lobbyist and diplomat who has served as British Ambassador to the United States since February 2025. A member of the Labour Party, Mandelson serve ...

, by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

dairy trader, Egenberger.

References

External links

Anchor Institute

Anchor Malaysia
(archived) {{Brands of New Zealand Agricultural marketing cooperatives Dairy products companies of New Zealand New Zealand brands Fonterra brands Products introduced in 1886 Cooperatives in New Zealand