Europe’s largest food company, Nestlé, is no longer ignoring the predators surrounding chocolate and confectionery giant Cadbury and is ready to enter the fray, reports from Switzerland say.

In new developments to the Cadbury saga:

• Nestlé is weighing options about whether to mount a counter bid for Cadbury to those of Kraft Foods and potential ones from Hershey and Ferrero

• Insiders say Nestlé may decide not go ahead and the company itself is not commenting

Nestle in Zimbabwe has bowed to global public pressure and stopped buying milk from farms administered by President Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace Mugabe.

As reported by FoodNavigator.com, Nestle started buying milk on the open market in Zimbabwe, including from farmers managed by Mrs Mugabe that were appropriated from white farmers.

Nestle said it was forced to buy from the open market after the country’s food and economic crisis caused its dairy sector to collapse and eight of its 16 regular suppliers went out of business.

Fonterra has bought Nestle's yoghurt and dairy business in Australia - and scored a small coup in its campaign to take over the Sydney-based Dairy Farmers cooperative.

Dairy Farmers currently sells Nestle's Ski brand of yoghurts and dairy desserts, but its long-term licence to manufacture, market and sell the Nestle desserts will revert to Nestle in 2012.

The deal announced today - to take effect on September 1, when Fonterra will take over Nestle's factory at Echuca in northern Victoria - will mean those licences will then be licensed to Fonterra.