Another day and another email from Nestle about Mugabe!

Another day, another email, actually though this one has made me somewhat angrier.

There is an implication that they have only stopped purchasing milk from Grace Mugabe's Gushungo Dairy Estate because a lot of people like me and you got in touch to complain, not that they should have a conscience and shouldn't fund the evil dictator through a back door IE via his wife's dairy business.


Although as Caron and others will testify, Nestle don't have a conscience!

"Dear Mr Reeves,

Thank you for getting in touch.

The Dairy Board of Zimbabwe have now informed the Gushungo Dairy Estate, and the 7 other farms with whom Nestlé began working on a temporary basis in February 2009, that it is now in a position to resume purchasing their milk. Nestlé Zimbabwe therefore will no longer be receiving milk from these 8 farms from Sunday 4 October.

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 8 farms. 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.

Nestlé has been in Zimbabwe for 50 years, working with the population of Zimbabwe and striving to maintain a long-term viable operation in often challenging conditions. We operate in Zimbabwe, as we do in every country, through good times and bad. We work for the long-term, in a way which has positive impact on our consumers, employees and suppliers.

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.

Thank you again for taking the trouble to contact us. We are grateful for the interest you have shown in our company."