Playing a part in New Zealand’s beef sustainability journey

A 10 year track record of global and local beef sustainability leadership, initiatives and partnerships

2011

  • Global - McDonald’s is a founding member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB)

2012

  • Global - McDonald’s creates sustainable beef programme fund to top 10 beef sourcing countries to support local sustainability programmes.
  • New Zealand - Beef + Lamb New Zealand receives first tranche of funding to work with local beef processors and farmers

2013

  • New Zealand - Beef + Lamb New Zealand receives second tranche of funding to work with local beef processors and farmers

2014

  • Global
    • GRSB finalises set of principles and criteria for beef sustainability.
    •  McDonald's sets its first external commitment to support sustainable beef production and to purchase verified sustainable beef in the future as part of its 2014 Global Sustainability Framework

2015

  • New Zealand - Whangara Farms develops land environment plan, supported by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and McDonald’s sustainable beef programme fund

2016

  • Global
    • McDonald’s meets commitment to begin purchasing sustainable beef from a verified supply chain pilot programme in Canada, followed by product through a programme in Brazil during the Rio Olympics.
    •  McDonald's releases beef sustainability report
  • New Zealand - McDonald's launches 2020 commitments to beef sustainability across top 10 beef sourcing countries, including New Zealand.

2017

  • New Zealand - Whangara Farms undergoes technical review by McDonald’s global sustainability team

2018

  • Global - McDonald’s announces global antibiotic policy for beef
  • New Zealand - Whangara Farms is the first farm outside Europe to join McDonald’s Flagship Farmers programme

2019

  • New Zealand - McDonald’s is a founding member of the NZ Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

2020

  • New Zealand - McDonald's sources its first portion of New Zealand beef from suppliers participating in a pilot sustainability programme.

Our 2020 aspirational goals

By the end of 2020, in each of our top 10 beef sourcing countries (the U.S., Australia, Germany, Brazil, Ireland, Canada, France, New Zealand, the U.K. and Poland – which collectively represent more then 85% of our global beef volumes), we will:

Accelerate industry progress

Source a portion of our beef from suppliers participating in sustainability programs aligned with the GRSB principles and criteria, and that meet the McDonald’s requirements for each applicable market.

Share knowledge and tools

Engage with local farmers through farmer outreach projects to help develop and share best practices related to our Priority Impact Areas.

Promote Flagship Farmers

Select and showcase McDonald’s Flagship Farmers to demonstrate leading best practices related to our Priority Impact Areas.

Pioneer new practices

Set up McDonald’s Progressive Farm Partnerships to trial and discover new practices related to our Priority Impact Areas.

Conserve forests

In regions with identified ricks relating to the preservation of forests, verify that the beef sourced from those regions comes form farms where primary forests and high conservation value lands are preserved. Read more about our Commitment on Forests.

Find out more at mcdonalds.co.nz/nz/en-nz/about-us/our-ingredients.html