...as farmers say: Boycott Caffe Nero

FARMERS say they will boycott Caffe Nero over its plans to stop using milk from areas where badgers are being culled.

Rob Harrison of the National Farmers’ Union called the coffee chain’s move ‘naive and outrageous and ignorant’.

Mr Harrison, a Gloucestershire dairy farmer, told Farmers Guardian it would be difficult to prove whether milk was from in or outside the cull zones. ‘Would they rather they were sourcing milk in an area where 40,000 cows were killed because of TB than in an area where they were actually trying to control the disease?’ he said. NFU deputy president Minette Batters said: ‘The company appears to have bowed to pressure from those who think nothing of intimidation and threats of disruption to achieve their ends.’

Caffe Nero is owned by a holding company based in Luxembourg and has 600 shops in Britain. Last year it was revealed that it had paid no corporation tax since 2007, despite making £100million in profits in that time. It did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.