Nestlé Stops Sipping Mugabe's Milk

Food giant Nestlé (NESN) has done an about-face in response to mounting pressure and will no longer buy milk from the wife of crazy Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

It came to light earlier this week that the company's subsidiary, Nestlé Zimbabwe, had begun buying milk directly from Grace Mugabe's Gushungo Diary Estate when the country's dairy industry began to fall apart. When the local processor, the Dairy Board of Zimbabwe, could no longer make purchases, Nestlé stepped in to buy milk from Gushungo and other dairy farms. The company said it was trying to help the country, and it probably did.

Gushungo, though, was among the farms seized from white farmers during Robert Mugabe's "land reforms." When Nestlé's dealings with Gushungo became known, there were immediate, widespread calls for boycotts from human rights organizations and others.

Nestlé now says the Dairy Board is once again able to buy milk from Gushungo, so direct purchases are no longer necessary.

As with all widely traded commodities, though, it makes little difference whether milk is purchased directly or indirectly. Nestlé is still buying milk off the market, and Gushungo is still selling milk into that same market. The direct purchases made for a severe public-relations problem. That problem has been solved, but in a de facto sense, not much has really changed.