First-ever Pilot to Verify Sustainable Beef in Canada Concludes

As one of the country's largest Canadian beef purchasers, McDonald's Canada, through its Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot, tracked the journey of nearly 9,000 head of Canadian cattle, or the equivalent of 2.4 million patties. The cattle spent their entire lives, from 'birth to burger', raised on or handled by verified sustainable operations. Image: CNW Group/McDonald's Canada.

McDonald's Canada announced the successful conclusion of its Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot today, an industry-first.  This marks a major milestone of its collaborative partnership with the Canadian beef industry over the past 30 months to advance more sustainable beef practices and supports the global company's broader aspirational goal to source all of its food and packaging sustainably.

Also read, Canadian Centre for Food Integrity launched to connect farm gates to dinner plates.

As one of the country's largest Canadian beef purchasers, McDonald's Canada, through the Pilot tracked the journey of nearly 9,000 head of Canadian cattle, or the equivalent of 2.4 million patties. The cattle spent their entire lives, from 'birth to burger', raised on or handled by verified sustainable operations.

The Pilot has successfully demonstrated that not only can sustainable practices and outcomes be verified through the entire Canadian beef supply chain (from farm to processing), cattle from verified sustainable beef operations can also be tracked through these operations. The Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot Project in Canada is the first program to make the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) principles and criteria actionable across the entire beef value chain.

In celebration of the Pilot's wrap-up, executives from McDonald's, World Wildlife Fund U.S. and members of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) met Wednesday with Pilot participants, industry stakeholders and elected officials to share the progress that has been made towards verifying a sustainable beef supply. In addition to discussing the outcomes of the program, the Pilot's findings were officially handed over to the CRSB who has responsibility for mapping the path forward for verified sustainable beef in Canada.

By the Numbers

• 182 – Number of operations (121 ranches, 34 backgrounding operations, 24 feedlots, two beef processors and one patty plant) completed the third-party process to verify their beef operations as sustainable under the Pilot project.
• 8,967- Total number of head of Canadian cattle that were tracked as moving through verified operations.
• 65 million - Number of pounds of beef McDonald's sourced last year from Canadian beef farmers to produce its beef patties.

Quick Facts

• McDonald's Corporation, WWF-US and Cargill are founding members of the GRSB established in 2012.
• In 2014, the CRSB was formed creating a truly multi-stakeholder organization of experts representing every aspect of beef production, including McDonald's Canada, Cargill, Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Canada Beef, Loblaw Inc., government and producer groups.
• McDonald's Canada sources 100% Canadian beef for its hamburger patties from ranches, primarily from Alberta and Saskatchewan, making Canada a natural fit for the globally-supported Pilot.
• During the Canadian Pilot, local indicators were developed in line with the GRSB's principles in consultation with a cross-industry advisory board, and mechanisms for third-party verification and chain of custody management were agreed upon.
• The five indicator categories, which Pilot participants were measured on, called principles, encompass:
  • Natural resources, such as ensuring soil health, water supply, and wildlife and plant biodiversity.
  • People and community, include ensuring a safe work environment and commitment to supporting the local community.
  • Animal health and welfare, such as adequate feed to drinking water and minimizing animal stress and pain.
  • Food, such as ensuring food safety and beef quality, including training and registration in the Verified Beef Production (VBP) program.
  • Efficiency and innovation, such as recycling and energy efficiency programs.

SOURCE McDonald's Canada