Nestlé comments on eco-damaging dairy factory farms in Sri Lanka report

With reference to the article titled ‘Western corporations funding huge expansion of eco-damaging dairy factory farms in Sri Lanka, study finds’, reported by UK’s Independent newspaper and published in Daily FT on 29 January, following is the response by a Nestlé spokeswoman: 

We do not own any farms in Sri Lanka. All of our regular milk suppliers are smallholder farmers, whom we have helped develop for more than 35 years together with the Government. Our aim is to provide training and development to local farmers, offer them assistance to develop their businesses in line with our commitment to rural development, and provide them with a route to market by buying their milk.

We have set up essential infrastructure, such as milk chilling centres, which offer farmers the means to keep their milk fresh in tropical weather until it is transported to our factory.

We also train farmers in a range of technical topics and best practices, including cattle feeding and breeding, and animal health and farm management.

It offers free mobile veterinary clinics in collaboration with the Government.

Our programs also educate farmers about the ‘five freedoms’ applied to animals, i.e. freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; fear and distress; physical and thermal discomfort; pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.