Grace Mugabe takes on Nestle
Fighting back ... Grace Mugabe launching a range of milk products
04/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THEY say nothing beats a mother’s milk, and Zimbabweans are soon to find out. Zimbabwe’s supermarkets this week began stocking dairy products from First Lady 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, on Wednesday was selling pints of fresh milk and sour milk under Mugabe's Alpha Omega brand. Also being processed at the farm is powdered milk, ice cream and various other products which 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 state media, President Robert Mugabe’s wife boasted that her dairy farm had 2,000 cows and was the second biggest in the SADC region, with the capacity to milk 64 cows at one go.
In 2009, Nestle announced it would stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate – built on a farm which was seized from a white farmer – after coming under pressure from rights activists who threatened to campaign for a boycott of Nestle products.
Labels: DAIRY, GRACE MUGABE, LAND REFORM, NESTLE
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Bid to stifle indigenisation
By Fanuel Kangondo and Martin Kadzere
INFANT milk and cereals producer, Nestle Zimbabwe has once again come under the spotlight with the company making frantic efforts to avoid indigenisation.
In an apparent effort to skirt the indigenisation process aimed at ensuring that Zimbabweans own 51 percent of the foreign-owned firms, Nestle Zimbabwe has written to Industry and Commerce Minister Professor Welshman Ncube to help resolve the matter “between us and Government”.
This was after Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empower-ment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Nestle Zimbabwe managing director Mr Kumbirai Katsande had met to discuss the company’s indigenisation plan.
Minister Kasukuwere told Herald Business that he failed to understand why Nestle was employing divide and rule tactics by taking the matter to fellow Cabinet Minister Prof Ncube. He said that Mr Katsande should stop being provocative with the hope of turning a Government minister against another.
“There is no doubt that Nestle is a prime candidate for indigenisation, and all we are doing is within the laws of this country. It’s very unfortunate that some black CEOs find themselves as defenders of white capitalist interests,” he said.
After meeting Minister Kasukuwere on Wednesday last week, Mr Katsande was advised to consult the sectoral committee responsible for the manufacturing sector chaired by local businessman Mr Adam Molai. The committee in turn makes recommendations to the minister on matters related to indigenisation.
Milk processing companies fall in the category of sectors that are reserved for locals in the Empowerment Regulations gazetted at the beginning of the year.
After the meeting, Mr Katsande wrote a letter to Prof Ncube saying that Minister Kasukuwere was particularly keen to attend to the indigenisation of Nestle Zimbabwe. As fate would have it, the letter was delivered to Minister Kasukuwere’s office. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce is on the 13th Floor of Mukwati Building while Youth Development, Indignisation and Empowerment Ministry is on the 17th Floor. Excerpts of the letter to Prof Ncube read:
“… The minister expressed his intention to nationalise Nestle Zimbabwe by December 2010, his reason being that the company imposed sanctions. This seems to be in reference to the Gushungo Dairies matter, which we assumed was now behind us. Clearly this is not the case.
“We write to alert you to these developments. You have assisted us resolve matters between us and Government in the past and we feel we require your help.”
Contacted for comment, Mr Katsande denied that he had approached the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on the matter.
“I cannot say much but it is not true that I approached Minister Ncube and anyone within the Ministry of Industry and Com- merce.”
He stated in the letter that Nestle was in the process of implementing an ambitious US$12 million investment in the Equatorial Africa Region that would result in an expansion of commercial milk production in Zimbabwe.
Mr Katsande said that in view of the investment, it did not make business sense to dilute the shareholding interest in Nestle Zimbabwe as it compromised the value of the company. The letter was dated October 7, 2010 and was copied to Mr Pierre Trouilhat, the head of Nestle Equatorial Africa Region and the ministry’s permanent secretary Mrs Shoniwa.
Nestle Zimbabwe suspended operations in the country for two weeks towards the end of last year following a misunderstanding over the supply of milk from Gushungo Dairies. The Switzerland-headquartered food company had bowed to pressure from activists against Zimbabwe’s land reform to stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairies owned by the First Family.
Labels: INDIGENIZATION AND EMPOWERMENT ACT (ZIMBABWE), NESTLE
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Nestle resumes Zim operations
By Sapa
Wed 06 Jan. 2010, 10:50 CAT
Nestlé resumed production in Zimbabwe on Monday, the Herald newspaper reported. This followed the temporary closure of its operations due to "a misunderstanding over the supply of milk from Gushungo Dairy Estates", the newspaper said.
The Switzerland-headquartered food company Nestlé "had bowed to pressure from activists that are against Zimbabwe's land reform programme" to stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estates owned by the Mugabe family in October last year, the Herald said.
"It proceeded to shut down operations in December at its Southerton plant in a move that was condemned by Zimbabweans across the political divide."
The newspaper said it had visited the Nestlé Zimbabwe factory in Southerton on Monday and established that all systems were in place and the company was operating normally.
"The factory was fully operational and employees were seen doing their duties."
The newspaper said employees confirmed the company had resumed operations on Monday, "adding that everything was back to normal". Job seekers were also seen at the company's main gate. No official comment could be immediately obtained from the company, the Herald said.
"Nestlé Zimbabwe was asked by the government to reopen after it was given assurances over the safety of its staff and operations.
"A deal was reached over how milk from Gushungo Dairies would be processed," the Herald said.
This followed consultations between Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube, Nestlé Zimbabwe representatives and other key stakeholders in the dairy sector last month, it reported.
Ncube told the Herald he was asked by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to intervene after Nestlé's Zurich head office had announced it was temporarily closing its Zimbabwe factory after two managers were questioned by the police.
Labels: NESTLE, SANCTIONS, ZIMBABWE
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Farai Pamire - Nestle's action deplorable
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:45:00 +0000
DEAR EDITOR - I find the actions of Nestle shocking and hypocritical to say the least, and they will not be missed in Zimbabwe. The decision to close shop presumably under pressure from the Zimbabwe government was ill-advised and childish.
Nestle should not expect the government of Zimbabwe to keep quiet when they are making such decisions.
This company has been in the country for over 50 years servicing the evil regime of Ian Douglas Smith and his Rhodesian Front racists who brutalised, maimed and marginalised black Zimbabweans. They kept Smith afloat during Zimbabwe's apartheid era, yet President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF government allowed such companies to remain aflot and profitable in Zimbabwe.
These people soon forget that we have come a long way.
They remind me of people like Roy Bennet who today fight for democracy when they have been part of the evil regime that kept blacks in second-class citizenship in their own country.
To Nestle I say, "Go and never turn back. You will never be missed."
Farai Pamire.
The writer can be reached via farai-pamire1@gmail.com
Labels: NESTLE, SANCTIONS
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Tsvangirai says Nestle over-reacted
Floyd Nkomo
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:15:00 +0000
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has voiced concern over Nestle's decision to shut down its dairy operations in Zimbabwe, apparently over a dispute on buying milk from a farm run by First Lady, Amai Grace Mugabe.
Nestle in October stopped buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estates, owned by the First Lady under pressure from the EU which has banned companies from that region from doing business with Zimbabwe.
The Swiss-based food giant, the world's largest, alleged that Zimbabwean government officials and police made an "unannounced visit" to the plant on Saturday, forcing staff to take delivery of a tanker of milk from non-contracted suppliers.
Two Nestle Zimbabwe managers were reportedly also questioned by the police and released without charges the same day, it added.
"Since under such circumstances normal operations and the safety of employees are no longer guaranteed, Nestle decided to temporarily shut down the factory," the company said in a statement.
PM Tsvangirai said that he believed the firm had over-reacted, but that a solution would be found.
"Shutting down a plant... I think it's something that needs to be looked at. This is an over-reaction which is totally unnecessary," the prime minister said.
"I am sure the minister of industry, who is responsible, is talking to the directors (of Nestle), is talking to all the concerned stakeholders and that a solution will be found. So that it operates and even expands," he said.
President Mugabe said nothing about Nestle's decision.
Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NESTLE, SANCTIONS
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Mugabe workers ‘besiege’ Nestle
by
18/12/2009 00:00:00
AT LEAST six workers from Grace Mugabe’s dairy farm, Gushungo Dairy Estates, stormed the company headquarters of Nestle Zimbabwe demanding that the company resumes milk orders terminated in October, it was claimed.
Workers at the Swiss food conglomerate claimed the six men arrived just after lunch and demanded to see “whoever is in charge so that they can deliver milk”. One Nestle employee said the six were driving in a white ERF truck parked outside the company’s HQ along Park Lane.
“These guys meant business I tell you,“ the employee said. The six men are said to have met with Nestle managing director Heath Tilley and finance director, Farai Munetsi, who drove them out of the premises to an undisclosed location – thought to be the Meikles Hotel.
By late Thursday afternoon, neither Tilley nor Munetsi were available for comment as they were both said to be in meetings.
Nestle stopped making milk orders at Gushungo Estates after being pressured by foreign rights groups and its business partners who threatened to boycott its products.
Nestle was buying 10 to 15 percent of milk processed at its Harare plant from Mugabe’s farm.
Labels: DAIRY, GRACE MUGABE, GUSHUNGO DAIRY ESTATE, MUGABE, NESTLE, SANCTIONS
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Nestlé Zimbabwe should close shop, says AAG
Our reporter
Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:37:00 +0000
THE Affirmative Action Group (AAG), the vanguard of black economic empowerment in Zimbabwe, has condemned the decision by Nestlé Zimbabwe to stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate on the pretext that the First Family's business is under so-called targeted sanctions.
In a statement released to the Zimbabwe Guardian on Sunday, the pressure group said if Nestlé cannot buy milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate, a company run by Zimbabwe's First Family, they "should close shop in this country as the action is an affront to black economic empowerment and an unacceptable spate on the champions of Zimbabwe’s liberation and economic emancipation."
Nestlé Zimbabwe stopped buyig milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate under pressure from the west.
The company has its headquarters in Switzerland, a non-EU country, and consequently is not obliged to comply with the sanctions regime imposed by the EU.
The international food giant had first started buying milk on a temporary basis in early 2009. This was because a local privatized marketing firm which controls much of the milk industry in the country was unable to make purchases during the economic crisis.
"The First Family cannot be made to pay a heavy price on their unwavering commitment to the economic liberation of Zimbabweans," read the statement.
"They are being made to pay dearly for their efforts to give black Zimbabweans land and as AAG, we will not accept any attempt to victimize the President and his family for having fought for liberating blacks in the mind and economically.”
The group said while it saluted Nestlé for keeping its investments in Zimbabwe even under difficult economic times, it was shocked that the company could buckle under pressure from "Rhodesian right wing elements" who are so desperate to destabilize Zimbabwe's inclusive Government.
"It must be noted that Gushungo (Dairy Estates) is not stealing the milk, but it is providing it through hard work and honest means.
"To stop buying from the company on the basis of illegal sanctions against the First Family is not only immoral, but a serious violation of our country’s laws which are clear on discrimination.
“If Nestlé is convinced about its actions, then it must stop doing business in Zimbabwe because the first family is also likely to be buying its products.
"If they cannot buy from Gushungo Dairy Estates, how can they operate in an environment were the First Family is going to buy its products”? asked AAG.
Last week, AAG President Mr Supa Mandiwanzira said the organisation would soon be taking legal action against Nestlé Zimbabwe. He added that the company should be indigenised to avoid such actions in the future.
AAG called upon the United States, Britain and the rest of the EU to lift illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. The group also urged all Zimbabweans to speak "clearly and louder against them."
Labels: AAG, BEE, GUSHUNGO DAIRY ESTATE, NESTLE, SANCTIONS
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