Leading dairy brand Anchor has been in the Philippines for 37 years now, but there are a lot of things about its products that most Filipinos are not aware of.
For starters, Anchor is more than just butter. It has a wide array of cheeses and milk that are easily available in supermarkets and groceries. These include shredded mozzarella, shredded cheddar, grated parmesan, cheddar block, cream cheese spread, full cream milk powder, full cream UHT milk, and low fat UHT milk.
“It is true that most people associate our brand with butter. But we have so much more to offer,” said Mike Boness, general manager of Fonterra Brands Philippines Inc. which owns and produces Anchor.
“The volume of cheeses sold in the Philippines is growing as more and more people have traveled abroad and have become open to trying different kinds of food, including cheese,” he added.
Anchor is also a product of New Zealand, but the implication of this is not clearly communicated in its present packaging. Fonterra, a cooperative owned by at least 10,500 farming families in New Zealand, produces dairy from exclusively grass-fed cows.
“We have happy cows, and that state of happiness is evidenced in the quality of our milk. We have what we call a from-grass-to-glass process, which means the quality of the milk does not deteriorate as we go through the supply chain,” said Boness.
He continued, “Our New Zealand farmer families are committed to the strictest standards of quality control through regular on-farm testing and independent farm and environmental assessments. Our tanker drivers collect milk samples from every farm they visit to test its quality.”
Anchor’s commitment to traceability in every drop of milk it processes also means that all ingredients and sources of milk in every batch of product throughout the supply chain can be traced, allowing the company to quickly identify issues and take action if needed. This ensures that Anchor’s dairy products only use world-class milk that is naturally rich in antioxidants and free from genetically modified organisms.
Perhaps the final misconception about Anchor is that it is not a premium product, given its competitive price point.
“We want our products to be more accessible. To achieve that, we had to strike a balance between the volume of products to be sold and the price. That is how we reached our sweet spot for our price point,” said Boness.
Every Anchor product is sold on the back of a 150-year-old legacy founded by Henry Reynolds, an entrepreneurial farmer whose butter won a gold medal at the Melbourne Exhibition in 1888. Over the years, the brand that Reynolds built has become an internationally-recognized name with a strong heritage of quality and nutrition, with over 160 products present in 80 countries across the globe.
During Anchor’s #AWholeLotToLove press event, the kitchen crew at Single Origin Rockwell prepared dishes that showcased the premium taste of Anchor products. The meal began with an appetizer of Melba toast with garlic and chives with salted butter and cheese block followed by pumpkin and cinnamon soup with culinary cream. The main dishes consisted of fish and fries with marinara sauce; grated parmesan and unsalted butter; four cheese pizza with shredded mozzarella, shredded cheddar, and grated parmesan; and white truffle pasta with culinary cream, grated parmesan and unsalted butter. A hearty serving of mango caramel Grand Marnier with whipping cream capped the delicious meal.
Indeed, Anchor has a whole lot more to offer Filipino consumers, with its products that celebrate the nourishing goodness of milk.
I’m at joyce.panares @gmail.com