One of reporter Neal Wallace’s first visits on his Meeting the Market journey was to McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago.
The company sells 1.5 million Big Macs an hour in the United States and one would figure that safety and surety of supply would be top of its checklist when procuring meat.
But its global supply chain director told Neal that emissions intensity and animal welfare are the work-ons for NZ producers.
For many here in Aotearoa, the first reaction to that news is bemused horror. Surely an industrial barn in Illinois or Brazil doesn’t hold a candle to the lush green pastures of Waikato or Southland?
Surely McDonald’s must simply not know very much about our farm systems and we’re being tarred with a brush that was never meant for us?
It’s a theory that satisfies the notion we have about our place in the food-producing world.
But it’s also one that won’t help us remain the supplier of choice to the biggest processors.
Some people have asked us if we corrected these corporate monsters, telling them the truth about how food is grown here.
Well, we would have if they needed telling, but they didn’t because the data doesn’t lie.
Delving deeper into Neal’s story, we find McDonald’s global supply chain director isn’t a Chicago suit, he’s an Australian beef farmer who has a deep understanding of downunder farming systems.
No doubt he can also read statistics and data, which show the emissions efficiency of meat and dairy from producers in the US, European Union and even South America is improving far faster than it is here.
McDonald’s serves 70 million meals globally every day. It’s not the most premium of products but the company is probably better placed than most when it comes to knowing the global consumer.
The good news is that McDonald’s is working on ways to reward farmers who improve their sustainability profile.
As big industrial producers make progress on improving the sustainability of their beef and dairy systems, which centre on feedlots and barns, the pasture-based practitioners need to find their own improvements.
Advocating for that continual improvement isn’t naive, nor is it woke – whatever that means these days.
So while some readers may think news stories that feature New Zealand’s customers urging further improvements in sustainability is a sign that we’re not backing NZ farming, we think it’s a key component of what makes Team Ag such a world beater.
Talk to any farmer who has had the opportunity to visit export markets and see how they operate – they’ll tell you it only spurred them to focus on the sustainability, traceability and brand story that accompanies what they actually put on the boat.
You can love who you are now and also strive to improve in the future, that’s how the world works.
It’s called meeting the market.
You can inspire your colleagues to be the best that they can be.
That’s called teamwork, and we’re on your team.
In Focus Podcast | Meeting the market in the US and EU
Roving reporter Neal Wallace calls in from Brussels to share insights on the first week of his Meeting the Market tour. He’s been in the United States where some of our biggest customers are, including Mars and McDonald’s. Neal says they love NZ food but there are a couple of things we need to improve if we’re to remain as a supplier of first-choice.
