Nestlé Zimbabwe will no longer receive milk from farms owned by the wife of President Robert Mugabe.
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The Swiss food giant told just-food earlier this week that it has been sourcing milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate, a property said to be owned by Grace Mugabe, since the start of the year.
Weekend reports in the UK claimed the farm, which is said to form part of Mrs Mugabe’s 12,000-acre estate, was bought from its previous white owner for a knock-down price, is now owned by the president’s wife and managed by her son.
The company said that the “collapse” of Zimbabwe’s dairy industry amid the political upheaval in the country meant the group lost half its contracted suppliers and as a result, it was “forced” to source milk from a “wide variety” of non-contracted suppliers.
However, The Dairy Board of Zimbabwe today (2 October) informed the Gushungo Dairy Estate, and the seven other farms with whom Nestlé began working on a temporary basis in February, that it is now in a position to resume purchasing their milk.
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By GlobalData“In February 2009 the food and economic crisis in Zimbabwe reached a level where the dairy industry was at real risk of collapse, and the Dairy Board was no longer able to buy milk from these eight farms,” Nestlé said today. “In light of our long-term commitment to Zimbabwe, we bought this milk on a temporary basis. This helped prevent a further deterioration in food supplies in Zimbabwe at that time.
“In light of the recent controversy surrounding our relationship with the Gushungo Dairy Estate, we believe that this announcement reflects our long-term commitment to Zimbabwe while acknowledging the specific circumstances around these events.”
