New Zealand’s competition regulator the Commerce Commission has fined Hamilton-based dairy company Milkio Foods Limited $420,000 (A$ 385,000) for misleading customers by claiming its ingredients were “100 per cent Pure New Zealand” while sourcing some from India.
The company used false and incomplete information to retain approval to use the FernMark logo and licence number, a trusted symbol used internationally to identify products made in New Zealand.
Milkio pleaded guilty to 15 Fair Trading Act violations, including making false claims regarding the nation of origin of the butter used in their ghee products and using the FernMark brand and licence number without permission.
According to Commerce Commission Fair Trading GM Vanessa Horne, this was an “important case” as it influenced the global value of New Zealand’s export brand.
“New Zealand has built an international reputation for high-quality dairy products, which underpins the value of our dairy industry and exports,” said Horne.
“Milkio took advantage of this reputation to promote their products through the use of descriptions like “from the clean green pasture-based dairy farms in New Zealand,” and “produced and manufactured in pristine New Zealand” despite some of their products using imported butter from India.”
Judge Thomas Ingram further stressed the importance of misrepresentations that could harm the New Zealand dairy industry, adding that the harm was done “not only to consumers but also to other producers who rely on “brand New Zealand” in connection with dairy product sales”.
