The Leprosy Mission of New Zealand has been the unlikely beneficiary from the acrimonious debate over meat industry restructuring.
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper has made a personal donation to the charity to make amends for "distasteful" comments by Alliance Group chairman Owen Poole in which he drew an analogy with the disease and the reluctance by meat companies to merge.
Mr Poole reportedly made a comment, which included the phrase "hugging a leper", at a meeting of shareholders. It was reported by some rural media.
He said yesterday he regretted saying it. "The quote is imprecise and the context is wrong, but I regret saying it."
Mr Cooper would not say how much he has donated.
The two meat companies are involved in an increasingly bitter dispute over the future structure and direction of the meat industry.
