For a company that proclaims its loyalty to Canadian ranchers on the back and sides of its transport trucks, navigating a foray into the plant-based market is going to be somewhat tricky. McDonald’s marketing director Jean-Guillaume Bertola fully understands that the company has to strike a balance between adapting menus based on changing consumer preferences,… Read More
An Alberta rancher has been chosen as McDonald’s Canada first-ever Canadian representative of its global breeders and model farmers program. Stephen Hughes of Chinook Ranch, will join 33 other producers, breeders, farmers, and growers from 17 different countries as part of the company’s global program. According to a news release, the members represent eight different… Read More
As the saying goes, if Henry Ford had listened to what his customers wanted, they would have said, “Faster horses.” For Nicole Zeni, that innovation philosophy means that while you do need to listen to your customers, you must be open to change, and challenged to thinking broadly and for the long term. Zeni manages… Read More
McDonald’s Canada is just days away from rolling out a pilot project in Ontario that involves the Beyond Meat plant-based meat replacement product. On Monday, September 30, 28 restaurants in the southwestern region will offer the P.L.T. for a limited time. The acronym stands for plant, lettuce, and tomato, and the patty itself was crafted… Read More
A new look is coming to the iconic Egg McMuffin. Starting in September, Canadians will start to see the Egg Quality Assurance (EQA) label show up on McDonald’s Canada advertisements as the company has paired with the Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC). According to the EFC, all EQA certified eggs have met the highest standards… Read More
As promised earlier this summer, McDonald’s Canada has officially rolled out its Mighty Angus burger line made with Canadian verified sustainably-raised beef. Complete with a new advertising campaign and sporting the Canadian Roundtable on Sustainable Beef (CRSB) Certified logo, McDonald’s Mighty Angus line is the first major product offering with a completely verified beef supply… Read More
It was a big week for the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) and McDonald’s Canada. McDonald’s Canada says it will soon become the first company in Canada to serve beef from Canadian farms and ranches that are “certified sustainable.” Many of the beef producers participating in the pilot project are very excited about the… Read More
McDonald’s Canada says it will soon become the first company in Canada to serve Canadian beef from farms and ranches that are “certified sustainable.” The restaurant chain will introduce the sustainability claim with its Angus burger lineup, and is expecting to sell more than 20 million Angus burgers sourced according to these standards in the… Read More
Today marks International Women’s Day, and McDonald’s Canada is marking the occasion with a new commercial celebrating the farm women who play a role in bringing home the beef in Canadian agriculture. In the commercial, you’ll likely recognize Alberta’s Jill Harvie (@BrightPasture) from a previous McDonald’s commercial, and also featured for this Old MacDonald-themed sing-a-long is… Read More
For farmers and ranchers looking to “tell their story,” it doesn’t get much bigger than working with an advertising giant like McDonald’s. The fast-food company’s commercials and billboards are literally everywhere. Since launching the “Not Without Canadian Farmers” campaign in late 2015, McDonald’s Canada has focused part of its media spotlight on Canadian agriculture, aiming to explain… Read More
“We did it! We did it,” exclaimed Francesca Debiase, chief supply chain and sustainability officer for McDonald’s, pumping her hands through the air, at yesterday’s celebration of the conclusion of McDonald’s Verified Sustainable Beef (VSB) Pilot in Calgary. “Several years ago, McDonald’s supply chain made a really interesting discovery,” Debiase explained, “and that discovery was… Read More
Only a week after Subway’s (U.S.) announcement to shift towards animal protein raised without antibiotics, McDonald’s Canada has made its own announcement. The company is starting its transition to only source chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine. The change is part of the company’s “journey to evolve its menu to better meet the changing preferences… Read More
North America’s largest chain restaurant has pledged to source all of the eggs for its nearly 16,000 restaurants in Canada and the U.S. from cage-free chicken farms. McDonald’s announced today that it will completely transition to cage-free or “free-run” eggs within the next 10 years. “Our guests increasingly tell us they appreciate the efforts we… Read More
McDonald’s Corporation is offering up to $20,000 in funding for organizations and members of the Canadian beef community for projects that help prepare ranches and feedlots to successfully participate in the McDonald’s Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot Project (VSB Pilot). Qualifying applicants may be veterinarians, genetics providers, feed companies, associations and more. The funding, up to… Read More
I remember reading an interesting quote that, paraphrased, said society was losing touch with where food came from and that the increase in urbanization was a death knell for rural life. The quote was from the 1920s. Shocking? A little, but it’s also an excellent bit of perspective for where we sit now, nearly 100… Read More