The company’s suppliers are 85% Italian companies: McDonald’s buys 140 thousand tons of products from all over the peninsula every year
McDonald’s presents I’m lovin’ it Italy, the new communication platform that celebrates 37 years of commitment and investment in Italy. A path of enhancement of Made in Italy that starts from afar and takes shape thanks to growing investments and a consolidated link with the Italian agri-food sector. As the company recalls in a note, today McDonald’s, whose suppliers are 85% Italian companies, buys 140,000 tons of products from all over the peninsula every year, for an investment of over 370 million euros. Among these there are also 18 PDO and PGI ingredients, which entered the assortment for the first time in 2008 and of which 4,600 tons have been purchased in 15 years.
“The close relationship with the country is also demonstrated by the sustainability path that McDonald’s has been undertaking for years now within its system, thus involving its network of restaurants and its suppliers, an example of which is the total elimination of single-use plastic from the packaging – every year the saving is 1,000 tons – in favor of more sustainable materials, such as paper.The analyzes conducted by Comieco have demonstrated the full recyclability of McDonald’s paper waste: around 90% of packaging made of paper is 100 % certified and recyclable”. the note continues.
“Ours is a journey that comes from afar, which began 37 years ago when McDonald’s entered the Italian market, and which sees us increasingly committed and protagonists in the enhancement of the agri-food chain and in the development of the country-system, thanks to our partners, our local network, the one million and 200 thousand customers who choose us every day. We believe and want our positive impact to be increasingly relevant. This is why we confirm our commitment to investing in Made in Italy agri-food, certain that quality and Italian spirit are on the one hand the right key to responding to our customers’ requests, and on the other a solid way to contribute to the country’s growth ” commented Dario Baroni, CEO of McDonald’s Italy.
The I’m lovin’ it Italy platform was presented in the event ‘Giving value to Italy: the protagonists of Made in Italy comparing the value of supply chains and territories’ in collaboration with Qualivita and Origin Italia, which saw among the others the participation of Luca De Carlo, President of the Industry, Commerce, Tourism, Agriculture and Agri-Food Production Commission of the Senate, Vincenzo Cremonini, Chief Executive Officer of the Cremonini Group; Ettore Prandini, President of Coldiretti and Luigi Scordamaglia, Managing Director of Filiera Italia. Also discussing the cultural value of food were Massimo Bray, General Manager of Treccani, Joe Bastianich, partner for years in the selection of My Selection premium hamburgers, Mauro Rosati, Director of the Qualivita Foundation; Lino Stoppani, President of FIPE-Confcommercio and Cesare Baldrighi, President of Origin Italia.
McDonald’s has also accepted the invitation to involve the Pachino PGI Tomato Consortium and to include it in its menus, as announced by Giovanni Luca Cannata, Vice-President of the Budget, Treasury and Planning Commission of the Chamber who underlined the importance of an interlocutor capable of responding timely to the needs of the territories.
The Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Francesco Lollobrigida closed the meeting by emphasizing that “the Government’s attention to food, our food, is not a mere ideological battle. Precisely in this sense, food sovereignty also passes through the commitment to introduce PDO and PGI products, such as the pachino tomato, on the menus of large commercial chains. It is a very positive result. Investing in national production and enhancing the weakest supply chains is essential. Today the added value is given by the quality”.
“The collaboration with McDonald’s represents a great opportunity to enhance national agri-food excellence by guaranteeing consumers the Italian character of the products and giving a fair economic income to the work of our agricultural entrepreneurs”, underlined Ettore Prandini, President of Coldiretti.
“The collaboration between McDonald’s and the Italian agri-food chain has represented, also through membership of Filiera Italia, a unique and far-sighted model. Of those who, as a leading company in the global catering sector, understand that today the real strength lies in consolidating their agricultural and production chains, investing together to make them increasingly distinctive and competitive. Of how the role of those who unite thousands of farmers and suppliers with millions of consumers is a role of responsibility of those who oppose homologation by working, on the one hand, for a fair distribution of the added value generated throughout the supply chain and, on the other , to make the quality, safety and distinctiveness of our products and our distinctive culture accessible to all consumers”, commented Luigi Scordamaglia, Managing Director of Filiera Italia.
“In recent years, the ‘Italian System’ has given rise to one of the most important processes of capitalization of food through the work carried out by the Protection Consortia; in fact, with their commitment, over 800 typical Italian foods and wines have been safeguarded by of the European PDO PGI awards, going to enhance at the same time landscapes, conservation and transformation techniques, animal and vegetable varieties, territorial assets.Thanks to the work of McDonald’s, with the collaboration of the Qualivita Foundation and Origin Italia, a part of this value has been made known to a wide audience”, added Mauro Rosati, Director of the Qualivita Foundation.
Source-www.adnkronos.com