McDonald’s has launched a charm offensive ahead of the 2012 Olympics to highlight its British sourcing credentials.
The burger chain this week held one of nine ‘open farm’ days it is planning this year, where members of the public were invited to see what goes on behind the scenes.
Langmead Farms in Chichester, West Sussex, which grows iceberg lettuces hosted the day where competition-winning families were shown how the lettuces were planted, harvested and processed. British equestrian champion and Olympic silver medallist, Pippa Funnell, and local dignitaries were also among the guests. Natures Way Foods, which processes the lettuce on the same site showed the guests their facilities before the group visited a local McDonald’s restaurant to see how the food is prepared and cooked.
McDonald’s is sponsoring the 2012 Olympic Games, and Michele Banik-Rake, head of agriculture and Olympics supply chain projects at McDonald’s UK, said she hoped the open farm visits would help educate the public about how much the company sources from the UK. “We source British whenever we can and that has built to a £530m spend annually,” she said. “By educating members of the public about the provenance of our menu, we hope to secure an Olympic legacy of a stronger farming sector.”
Dave Moore, chief operating officer, Langmead Farms, added: “We’ve harvested approximately 18,500 tonnes of iceberg in the 14 years we’ve been supplying lettuce to McDonald’s, and it’s great that they have given us the opportunity to promote the quality of our produce.”
Health campaigners such as the British Heart Foundation have criticised the fact that McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Cadbury are all sponsoring the Olympic Games, raising concern that the potential for improving the nation’s health could be lost.
But Banik-Rake said she saw no contradiction: “It is about moderation,” she said. “It is high quality food. It gets a little bit of a negative rap because we sell it at such a good price but it is fantastic food and I am proud all the time to show off the suppliers. I don’t see any contradiction at all with the Olympics and us. I think that there has been some branding in the media that is a bit unfair, honestly.” She added that she hoped that by holding open farm days, the perception of McDonald’s would change.
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