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NESTLE

Mugabe threatens Swiss properties in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has warned Switzerland he would "reciprocate" after his wife and top officials were denied visas to attend a UN meeting in the country, state media said on Monday.

Mugabe threatens Swiss properties in Zimbabwe

“Now they are showing that they are vicious and we will reciprocate because they have their properties here,” Mugabe said in the state-run Herald newspaper.

“We are not without means to reciprocate,” he said.

“It is violation of rules and regulations governing host countries of UN meetings.”

Mugabe’s wife Grace, his personal bodyguard, and four top officials were denied visas to attend to a meeting of the UN’s International Telecommunications Union in Switzerland, causing the trip to be cancelled, according to state media.

The six are on the sanctions list imposed by the European Union and backed by Switzerland, which is not an EU member. Switzerland has not commented on the visas.

Swiss food giant Nestle operates a factory in Harare, which produces cereals and powdered milk for the local market.

Meanwhile, The Herald said Mugabe returned to Zimbabwe on Sunday from a private visit to Asia — trips that have become monthly events amid reports that the 87-year-old leader is suffering from prostate cancer.

Mugabe has angrily denied reports that his health is worsening.

“You want to ask me about my health. As you can see, this Mugabe is fit,” Mugabe told the paper.

According to the WikiLeaks whistleblower website, Mugabe has prostate cancer which has metastasized, and has been advised by doctors to cut on his activities.

The cable sent to Washington in 2008 said Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono told the then-US ambassador, Jame McGee that Mugabe was told by doctors he had three to five years to live.

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NESTLE

‘Unlimited resources’: Switzerland’s Nestle goes vegan

Swiss food giant Nestle, which has made billions with dairy products, said Monday it will host start-ups that want to develop vegetarian alternatives.

'Unlimited resources': Switzerland's Nestle goes vegan
Photo: SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

Nestle could thus find itself at the forefront of a sector that has strong growth potential, an analyst commented.

It plans to open its research and development (R&D) centre in Konolfingen, Switzerland to “start-ups, students and scientists” a statement said.

In addition to testing sustainable dairy products, the group plans to encourage work on plant-based dairy alternatives, it added.

Chief executive Mark Schneider was quoted as saying that “innovation in milk products and plant-based dairy alternatives is core to Nestle's portfolio strategy.”

The group unveiled a vegetable-based milk that had already been developed with the process, and technical director Stefan Palzer told AFP it planned to focus on 100-200 such projects a year.

Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, noted that while Nestle had missed some consumer trends in the past, it has now “taken something of a lead in the plant-based alternative market for food”.

And “given its pretty much unlimited resources, Nestle is going to come out one of the winners in the space,” Cox forecast in an e-mail.

Nestle said that “internal, external and mixed teams” would work at the R&D centre over six-month periods.

Nestle would provide “expertise and key equipment such as small to medium-scale production equipment to facilitate the rapid upscaling of products for a test launch in a retail environment,” it added.

The Swiss food giant has long been known for its dairy products, but faced a boycott in the 1970s for allegedly discouraging mothers in developing countries from breastfeeding even though it was cheaper and more nutritious than powdered formula.

On Monday, the group's statement also underscored that the research initiative was part of its commitment to help fight global warming.

“As a company, we have set ambitious climate goals. This is part of our promise to develop products that are good for you and good for the planet,” it said.

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