Nestlé stops buying Mugabe farm's milk

Swiss food manufacturer Nestlé will stop buying milk from a Zimbabwean farm owned by president Robert Mugabe's wife following threats to boycott its products.

The Daily Telegraph revealed last month that Gushungo Dairy Estate, owned by Grace Mugabe, supplied up to a million litres of milk a year to Nestlé's manufacturing plant near the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. The previous owner of the farm was reportedly forced to sell it to the state for a fraction of its market value.

The food giant purchased the milk through its Zimbabwean subsidiary, and as such was not bound by EU, Swiss or American sanctions preventing the transfer of funds to president Mugabe. The EU says sanctions will remain in place until Zimbabwe improves its human rights record.

The company said in a statement it purchased milk from Gushungo and seven other farms as a temporary measure from February because the country's dairy industry was "at real risk of collapse" after the Dairy Board of Zimbabwe - which previously bought milk from the farm - had fallen into financial difficulties.

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