McDonald’s opens up supply chain

In the wake of recent horse meat scares and supply chain scandals in Europe, McDonald’s is opening up its supply chain to public scrutiny in the UK.

The US burger chain giant has launched a search for ‘Quality Scouts’, members of the public who will go behind the scenes and report back on how some of its most famous products are made, in response to increased interest from consumers in where the food they buy comes from, says the company.

The Quality Scouts will investigate and chronicle the supply chain journey from some of the 17,500 British and Irish farms that supply McDonald’s through to food production and restaurants. They will meet and interview farmers, food suppliers and McDonald’s employees to find out the facts about what’s in their chosen product and how it is made. McDonald’s will then publish the Quality Scouts’ reports on its interactive website whatmakesmcdonalds.co.uk later this year.

According to a recent Populus poll of 2,000 consumers, knowing more about where food comes from is now an important issue for most UK adults. Four out of five people (81%) said it is important that ingredients are traceable to the farm they came from, and over half of adults (53%) consider how food is produced when deciding which products to buy.

Warren Anderson, vice president, Supply Chain, commented: “Every day, people ask us questions about our food and our ingredients, so we’re inviting members of the public to see for themselves what’s in some of our most popular products and follow the journey from farm to restaurant.”

The Quality Scout visits will take place throughout summer 2013.