“The boycott’s been going on for years, but it’s not biting deep enough for Nestle’s tastes. They’ve initiated a major drive to persuade lots more people not to buy the company’s products. How else to explain its demand for $6m from the Ethiopian government as compensation for the nationalisation in 1975 of a subsidiary company of a German parent operation that Nestle subsequently purchased in 1986? (Yes, hard to follow, but if you concentrate it makes sense). A company that made $5.5bn profit last year is trying to force the government of one of the poorest nations on earth to cough up $6m, and is refusing to accept a $1.5m compromise settlement that the cash-strapped regime has offered.”
