Zimbabwe has reassured food giant Nestle on the safety of its staff after a dispute over buying milk from dairy farms it had no contracts with.

The company shut down operations this week, claiming that state was forcing it to buy milk from certain suppliers.

Industry Minister Welshman Ncube said he had met with Nestle Zimbabwe as well as national dairy officials.

All agreed the milk from Gushungo Dairies, owned by President Robert Mugabe’s family, should be bought by local processors.

Nestle Zimbabwe has confirmed the meeting with Ncube and other government officials, but has not given much more detail.

In October, Nestle stopped buying milk from farms owned by Mugabe because they were seized from white farmers under his controversial land reforms.

Nestle shut down its Harare factory on Monday after it claims Zimbabwean government officials and police made an unannounced visit to the plant last weekend.

The Swiss-based food giant said staff were forced to take delivery of a tanker of milk from non-contracted supplier, apparently from Mugabe’s farm.

(Edited by Danya Philander)