Greenpeace spokesperson Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn said "It’s easy for Fonterra executives in their shiny offices to ignore the growing nitrate crisis that they have caused in rural New Zealand, so we’ve brought the crisis to their front door."

"Peoples’ health is being put at risk from contaminated drinking water. Canterbury has just declared a nitrate emergency. Fonterra is responsible for this.

"Fonterra and its investors are making a killing at the expense of peoples’ health and access to safe, clean drinking water - especially in Canterbury. It’s time for Fonterra to stop disregarding the health of rural communities, and prioritising the profits of its investors. That means cutting the herd size and ending the use of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser."

The activists set up a decontamination tent outside Fonterra HQ and poured 2 metric tonnes of slime around the building. This represented the toxic slime found in rivers and lakes from e coli and nitrate contamination, and prevented shareholders from walking through main entrances.