Mugabe bans milk imports?
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
South Africa’s imported milk products to Zimbabwe have disappeared from the
country’s supermarket stores, amid reports that the First Family ordered a
ban on the imports with the aim to dominate the market through its Mazowe
dairy farm.
23.10.12
by Jeffrey Moyo
A survey conducted by The Zimbabwean this week across supermarkets in the
capital showed that a number of supermarkets were stocking dairy products
from Grace Mugabe’s farm in Mazowe – a brazen challenge to Swiss food
conglomerate, Nestle, which bowed to political pressure to stop buying milk
from Gushungo Dairy Estate.
The country’s biggest supermarket chain, OK, was this week selling pints of
fresh milk and sour milk under Mugabe’s Alpha Omega brand.
Also being processed at the First Family’s farm is powdered milk, ice cream
and various other products, which impeccable sources said will soon enter a
market dominated by Nestle.
Zimbabwean blogger, Cynic Harare, observed that the packaging was “pretty
dull”, but added: “It tastes like milk, which means it’s better than some
stuff around. It’s a bit cheaper too.”
In a recent interview with the public media, President Robert Mugabe’s wife
boasted that her dairy farm had 2,000 cows and was the second biggest in
Southern Africa.
In 2009, after coming under pressure from rights activists who threatened to
campaign for a boycott of Nestle products, Nestle announced it would stop
buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate – built on a farm which was seized
from a former commercial farmer.