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Corporate responsibility is part of McDonald’s^® heritage, and an integral part of our business strategy. For us, responsibility means striving to do what is right in the community, and integrating social and environmental priorities into our restaurants and relationships.

Over the last decade we have evolved our menu with our customers, and shown leadership as a responsible corporate citizen. We continue to reformulate our products to reduce levels of saturated fat, sugar and sodium, without impacting quality and taste. We have extended the range of food and beverages available, and added flexibility and value for customers to choose meals how they want them. We continue to be transparent about what goes into our food, and look at new ways to help people make informed decisions. As part of our Journey For Good you will continue to see McDonald’s develop in a way that is relevant to New Zealanders. Click below to see some of the changes we’ve made over the last 10+ years.

McDonald's NZ Journey For Good.pdf
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04/02/2016

We take a responsible approach to marketing and advertising. Locally we comply with all New Zealand legislation, including the Advertising Codes of Practice, and specifically the Advertising Standards Authority codes, including the code for advertising food, and the children’s code for advertising food. If you believe we have not adhered to those codes you can make a complaint at asa.co.nz/complaints.

McDonald's has its own Children's Marketing Global Guidelines, and we are also a signatory to the International Food and Beverage Association pledge relating to marketing to children. McDonald’s also partners with the Clinton Foundation’s Alliance For a Healthier Generation, which seeks to increase people’s access to fruit and vegetables and help families make informed food choices.

In New Zealand we stopped advertising Happy Meals during children’s programming in 2014. In 2015 we went further, developing an industry-first approach to ensure children do not see any McDonald’s advertising via digital devices. For around 10 years we have only shown the healthier choices (Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap, water and apple slices) in our Happy Meal advertising. Our television advertising, only shown in shared or adult viewing times, also includes a health and wellbeing message. We also do not advertise on billboards adjacent to schools, or on bus shelters within a 50 metre radius of schools. In 2015 we gave away half a million books with Happy Meals and will do the same in 2016.

McDonald’s restaurants and our head office receive requests every day from individuals, sports teams, school groups and other parts of the community for sponsorship. Our franchisees are proud of the support they can provide to their neighbours, and do what they can to help.

Nationally, McDonald’s is the principal partner to New Zealand Football’s junior football framework. The money McDonald’s invests goes directly into resources to help the 6000+ volunteer coaches, and 50,000+ Kiwi kids who participate in club football each season. To find out more, visit nzfootball.co.nz/juniors.

For over a decade McDonald’s has been part of the junior football Small Whites programme, which includes player of the day certificates as a reward for participation. Children generally receive one or two certificates per season, which include a McDonald’s voucher. The parent is able to choose to use the voucher for a grilled chicken snack wrap, a cheeseburger, or a donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

We recognise the debate about how brands market themselves, especially brands like McDonald’s. We go beyond the self-regulatory framework that exists in New Zealand and continue to evolve and develop our marketing approach. As New Zealand’s largest family restaurant, we know that people hold us to a high account, and that we need to act responsibly in how we promote our brand and products.

People sometimes have questions about the quality of our food and the way we do things.

And that’s fair enough. We’re happy for anyone to take a closer look at our business and our food.

We’ve identified some of the most common questions below, and you might also like to visit our Frequently Asked Questions.

We’re committed to using only the best quality beef so we can serve you the tastiest burgers in our restaurants everyday. We use premium beef from prime beef cattle, such as Herefords and Friesian, purchased only from quality farms on the free market.

All our beef patties are made from 100% New Zealand beef, with no additives or preservatives, just a little salt and pepper before serving. Our beef comes from a number of farms throughout New Zealand, great beef locations such as Taranaki, Marlborough, Waikato and Manawatu. Occasionally we can’t source enough beef for our needs, so we have to get some from our Australian neighbours when our stocks run low.

Abattoirs and transport
All of our abattoirs are export accredited which means our beef meets the New Zealand Quarantine Inspection Service’s strict requirements for export beef. Our beef is de-boned by hand and then transported to our patty production plants under controlled temperatures.

Making patties
Our patties are produced using specially designed equipment to ensure a perfect, consistent result for every burger patty. Our beef patties are prepared and packaged with thorough quality checks undertaken for every batch.

Delivery
Our patties are delivered to our restaurants by McKey Distribution Centre in vehicles with freezer compartments which ensures their premium quality.

Cooking
By the time our beef patties reach our restaurants, they have passed through 52 food safety and quality checks! Our beef patties are cooked to perfection in our restaurant kitchens for just the right amount of time - that's a minimum of 36 seconds for a regular patty and a minimum of 101 seconds for a Quarter Pounder^® patty! We use two-sided hotplates to cook the patties, so no extra fat is added during cooking.

Where does McDonald’s stand on animal welfare?

We’re committed to using only the best quality chicken so we can serve you the tastiest burgers in all our restaurants everyday. Our chicken is 100% sourced from within New Zealand. We buy chicken from Ingham® and Tegel®, just like you would at home. Our premium chicken range - burgers and wraps - uses 100% chicken breast meat. The crispy range is coated in a lightly seasoned breading and deep fried, and the seared range is marinated and then seared on a hotplate to lock in the flavour. McDonald's McChicken^® burger contains a blend of deboned white and dark chicken meat , which is formed and coated with a tasty batter to ensure juicy, tasty chicken. Our McNuggets^® are made from tender chicken breast meat cut and seasoned in a delicious tempura coating.

Some people might not know that there’s a lot of choice when it comes to your children at McDonald’s. Here are a few important facts:

• With Happy Meal^® Choices, kids can now choose to have a seared Chicken Snack Wrap, Pump® mini water, Keri® apple and blackcurrant fruit drink, chocolate flavoured milk or even a bag of New Zealand apple slices.
• In March 2004 fruit bags were introduced as additional Happy Meal option, with the choice to swap fries with a fruit bag, or enjoy the fruit bag as a separate snack item.
• All the apples in our fruit bags are New Zealand grown, including Granny Smith and Royal Gala varieties. They’re a great alternative to fries, and make up one of the five recommended daily portions of fruit and vegetables.
• As one of the largest sponsors of junior soccer and junior touch rugby in the country, McDonald’s assists in a number of ways, including providing equipment and awards for teams and assisting with resources such as coaching manuals, progress charts and skills certificates.
• Our franchisees also support their local communities, including hosting local playgroups in their restaurants and supporting local sporting events.
• We’re proud to support junior sports in our country and enjoy encouraging young New Zealanders to get out and be active.

Find out more about McDonald’s community involvement.

Nearly 80% of McDonald's in New Zealand are franchised by local business men and women.

Across the country, we employ around 10,000 people.

McDonald’s proudly supports Kiwi farmers, bakers, growers, fisheries and food suppliers. In 2015 we spent more than $202 million with New Zealand suppliers.

Here’s a look at our shopping list.

In 2015 McDonald’s sourced the following from New Zealand suppliers:

• 5.1 million kg of beef (514,000 kg of Angus and 4.6 million kg of beef)
• 2.99 million kg of chicken
• 820,000 kg of lettuce
  
• 315,000 kg of tomatoes
• 85 million buns, rolls, bagels and muffins
• 1.86 million litres of fresh milk and 4.5 million litres of dairy products
• 9.5 million kg of fries and hash browns
  
• 1.35 million kg of cheese
• 11.86 million eggs
• 299,000 kg of Hoki fish

McDonald’s unique purchasing system, the relationships we share with our suppliers and consistency of product quality are among our top priorities.

Additionally, New Zealand producers exported more than $211 million worth of food to McDonald’s restaurants around the world in 2015, including the following:

• 7.3 million kg of cheese to other McDonald’s markets
  
• 700,000 kg of French fries to other McDoanld's markets
  
• 35.5 million kg of beef (mostly to USA and the Pacific Islands)
• 98 thousand kg of chicken to the Pacific Islands

McDonald’s has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and we are proud of the work we have undertaken with our suppliers to ensure animals are farmed humanely and treated with respect. In New Zealand, all McDonald’s suppliers also comply with or exceed New Zealand animal welfare legislation.

One of the initiatives implemented globally by McDonald’s is our work with industry recognised animal welfare experts, including Dr Temple Grandin www.grandin.com. Dr Grandin is highly regarded for her work in setting and continually improving global animal welfare standards, and has visited New Zealand a number of times.