TRADE AND MARKETING McDonald’s France presents fast food ‘from field to plate’ The stand proudly announces that the chips are 100 percent origine Française, complete with a photo of the grower. objectives for the coming 5 years were set out. Three important themes are: reduction of the use of water and energy throughout the entire chain and expansion of the biodiversity in the cropping plan of the farmer. As far as energy and water reduction are concerned, these are topics we have already had high on the Lamb Weston agenda for years and which are continually being developed. Think of the use of WeightWatcher in storage, for example, that registers the loss of moisture in potatoes. Measuring can lead to energy saving and at the same time to a better end product, from which grower, factory and the consumer all profit’, explains Jansen. ‘As regards taking steps in the cultivation itself, here in France we pattern ourselves on the Skylark (Veldleeuwerik) programme that has been running in the Netherlands for some time now. We have growers determine together which measures they think are the best and the quickest to arrive at more sustainable cultivation. And that this actually works is what we explain here to the Parisians. You can see from their reactions that they think this very important.’ Absolutely no GMO products in the French McDonald’s However, this is not a process that’s always easy, Françoïs Tasmowski, CSR Communication at McCain Europe says in all honesty. ‘It’s a development that will take years. Not everyone in the chain has the same interests to begin with. McDonald’s has a different view of things than a manufacturer or a grower. To get everyone moving in the same direction will take time. We’re aware of that. Sustainable adjustments cost money, also for the growers. If investments in this direction cost 10 euro cents per ton, we’ll need to pay that.’ Apparently, there have already been extensive discussions with the end user, because Baptiste Brunello, Purchasing & Quality Manager at McDonald’s France nods in agreement. ‘We can only realise sustainability if we can cooperate from ‘field to plate’ to our full satisfaction. This requires a proper exchange of information. That’s why we’re all gathered here at this consumer fair. To inform the consumer, but also to listen to what they think of our products: to make the right choices’, Brunello laughs. This goes further than sustainability alone. For example, McDonald’s France now knows from their visitors that they absolutely do not want to eat genetically-modified products. ‘I realise that McDonald’s in the US is thinking, together with Simplot, about the possible implementation of GMO-varieties. Here in here. The figures that McDonald’s France so generously reveals don’t yet show the organic market share in their own ranks. However, they show that there are 2,774 conventional farmers in France who grow products under contract for McDonald’s and deliver directly to them. Furthermore, the number of French farming businesses that deliver food products directly or indirectly to the restaurant chain is 35,000 in total, according to the 2013 Annual Report. Criticism from Le Foll But it’s not all praise that we hear about McDonald’s France here in Paris. There’s also criticism and, funnily enough, that comes from the French Agricultural Minister Stéphane le Foll. Le Foll himself is a fanatic supporter and promoter of sustainable agriculture. He embraces the term agro-ecology and says that, in France, 40 percent of the farmers can already call themselves agro-ecological. At the opening of the SIA, Le Foll established that McDonald’s France is making too much of its agro-ecology concept. This statement caused a frown not only from the agronomists at McDonald’s, but also from the farmers and their organisation. Because, if half the French growers ‘Sustainable adjustments cost money, also for the growers. If investments in this direction cost 10 euro cents per ton, we’ll need to pay that.’ Françoïs Tasmowski, McCain Europe, however, we’re absolutely convinced that they’re not going to come here.’ Perhaps, we’ll be going in a completely different direction, namely, the organic one, Mascence Tuibaut of McCain adds. He’s responsible for the organic cultivation programme in France and he’s seen the acreage steadily growing in recent years. ‘It fits the picture that the French like their products to come from France. That’s not only to support their own growers, but also because they think that their food is grown in a safe way already farm agro-ecologically, as Le Foll chauvinistically alleges, then the fastfood giant must also buy their products from them, is the farmers matter-of-fact reaction. It should be quite clear that McDonald’s France attaches importance to sustainability and wants to give the farmers a professional place in the supply of potatoes and the promotion to the consumer. ● Leo Hanse Jaap Delleman Potato World 2015 • number 4 21 Pagina 20
Pagina 22Scoor meer met een e-commerce shop in uw boeken. Velen gingen u voor en publiceerden publicaties online.
Potatoworld 2015/4 Lees publicatie 38Home