According to Greenpeace, Fonterra has apparently ‘pulled the plug’ on its Facebook page, rather than answer the questions being submitted to it by members of the public on the company’s use of palm kernel expeller (PKE).

Fonterra however, has countered with the assertion that it never had a Facebook page to begin with. 

The questions were originally sparked by Greenpeace NZ’s trip to Indonesia in September to document the ongoing destruction of South East Asia’s rainforests by the palm products industry. Greenpeace had been encouraging its supporters to ask the company to explain its actions, however Fonterra has yet to respond to questions regarding its sourcing of PKE from deforested land.

“Social marketing is something that most large corporates are now engaged in. But Fonterra’s extraordinary refusal to answer questions on its use of palm kernel has forced it to remove itself from this increasingly important arena. It’s bizarre,” says Dmitry Kuznetsov, Greenpeace New Zealand Online Campaigner.

Fonterra says that they don't know who was responsible for the rogue page, but that it contacted Facebook and had the page removed.

Based on Statistics NZ figures, more than a million tonnes of PKE is expected to be imported into this country this year. Fonterra’s farmers are expected to spend NZ$230 million on the feed this year.

Greenpeace has created a parody Facebook page for Fonterra, here.