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André in Zuid-Afrika
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Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 1908
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 Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:51 pm Post subject: Blood Milk... |
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Nestle and Mugabe...
| Quote: | Nestle Buys Milk From a Farm Controlled by Mugabe (Update1)
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By Brian Latham
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Nestle SA said it is buying milk in Zimbabwe from a farm controlled by President Robert Mugabe’s family that was seized as part of a program to transfer land from white commercial farmers to black citizens of the country.
Nestle buys milk from the Mugabe family’s Gushungo Holdings Ltd., which owns a property formerly known as Foyle Farm, Ravi Pillay, a spokesman for Nestle in Johannesburg, said in an interview today. Purchases account for as much as 15 percent of Nestle’s intake in the country, Pillay said in a later statement. Calls to Mugabe’s office in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, weren’t answered.
“At the end of 2008 the company found itself operating in a market where 8 of its 16 contractual suppliers had gone out of business,” Pillay said in the statement. “As a result, in early 2009, Nestle was forced to purchase milk on the open market from a wide variety of suppliers on a non-contractual basis. This includes milk from the Gushungo Dairy estate.”
Mugabe and his allies are the target of asset freezes and travel bans imposed by the U.S. and the European Union because of concern over violence and irregularities during elections in the country over the last decade. The land seizure program, which began in 2000, slashed exports, deepened a recession that lasted a decade and caused a famine.
“Nestle is a truly global company, which operates in a wide variety of political settings,” Pillay said. “Had Nestle decided to close down its operations in Zimbabwe the company would have triggered further food shortages and hundreds of job losses.”
‘Good Example’
Nestle owns a milk powder and cereal factory in Harare, employing about 200 people.
Gushungo’s dairy estate is in Mazowe, about 20 miles (32 kilometers), north of Harare. Zimbabwe’s “first family” installed a modern dairy facility on the farm, the state- controlled Herald newspaper said on June 29, citing Martin Dinha, the provincial governor.
“The president is setting a good example and those who do not believe in the country’s land reform program should come hear and see the success,” Dinha said, according to the Harare- based newspaper.
The Mugabe family also farms corn, wheat and soybeans at its Highfield Farm in Norton, about 20 miles west of Harare, the Herald said. The farm may produce 5,000 metric tons of cereals and grains this year, the newspaper added. Mugabe’s family bought Highfield “soon after” Zimbabwe’s independence from the U.K. in 1980, according to the Herald.
Under white rule, which spanned 90 years from 1890, the best farming land was allocated to white settlers while black farmers were mainly confined to unfertile areas that further deteriorated when over farmed.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Latham in Durban, South Africa at blatham@bloomberg.net.
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Join us in a boycott of Nestle products. There is no other way.
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Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie. |
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Elaine
Site Admin
Joined: 21 Aug 2006
Posts: 1232
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
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| Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Damn. I'm going to have to give up my Lean Cuisine. |
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André in Zuid-Afrika
Site Admin
Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 1908
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| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Elaine wrote: | | Damn. I'm going to have to give up my Lean Cuisine. |
 Ah, don't worry, you won't have to!
UPDATE:
Nestle to stop buying milk from Mugabe's farm
(AFP) – 2 hours ago
JOHANNESBURG — Nestle said Thursday that it will stop buying milk from a farm owned by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's family, who seized it from white farmers under his controversial land reforms.
The world's biggest food company said in a statement on its website that it had begun buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate and seven other farms in February because local dairy processor, Dairy Board of Zimbabwe, was not able to pay for its orders.
"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," the statement said.
"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."
Nestle said the Dairy Board would resume its purchases from the eight farms, and that the Swiss firm would stop receiving milk from Gushungo from Sunday.
Newspaper reports last weekend revealed that Nestle was buying milk from Gushungo, one of the farms seized under Mugabe's land reforms meant to correct colonial-era imbalances that left the best land in the hands of whites.
Gushungo is one of several farms now controlled by Mugabe's family, and has been touted in state media as an example of successful land reforms.
The land reforms began in 2000 but were marred by widespread political violence, devastating the economy as agricultural production plunged, leaving the nation dependent on international food aid.
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Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie. |
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bickerstonehall
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Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Posts: 48
Location: Dnepropetrovsk
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| Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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Nestle now own Sweetitch one of the large names in Ukrainian Chocolate so that will be off my shop list from now on!
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Englishman living and working in Ukraine for English Russian Language TV spent 8 years living in Post Elizabeth, South Africa and loved it! |
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