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 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. On 22 August 2025, Fonterra confirmed it would sell Anchor along with several consumer brands and its processing operations in
Australia and
Sri Lanka to French dairy company
Lactalis for NZ$3.845 billion, subject to a shareholder vote and regulatory approval.
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, Auckland. In addition to the common varieties with differing percentages of
milk fat, they also offer "Anchor-Xtra", with extra
calcium (marketed to "extra active" parents), and "Mega Milk", with extra
vitamins, 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 and
Ethiopia.
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 ==