Reuters — Restaurant Brands International, owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported a second straight quarter of decline in comparable sales at Burger King in the U.S. and Canada. The company’s U.S.-listed shares, which had risen about 26 per cent this year up to Friday’s close, fell as much as three per cent despite […] Read more
Slowing sales at Burger King push parent’s shares down
McDonald’s to remove corn syrup from buns
Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. will replace corn syrup in hamburger buns with sugar this month and has removed antibiotics that are important to human medicine from its chicken months ahead of schedule, it said Monday, moves that are part of its drive to target increasingly health-conscious consumers. The fast food company also said it eliminated […] Read more
Ranchers give thumbs up to sustainability pilot
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers who participated in McDonald’s “verified sustainable” pilot showed a great deal of enthusiasm for the project and the lessons learned. “It felt like they (McDonald’s) were going to the grassroots where the other competitors were not,” said Les Wall, feedlot operator and owner of KCL Cattle Company near Coaldale. “I felt like the other […] Read more
‘Sustainable’ beef pilot a success, but job isn’t done yet
McDonald’s pilot is complete, but now the Canadian beef industry has to create and implement its own standards
Reading Time: 4 minutes After being the first to source and track “verified sustainable” beef for McDonald’s, the Canadian cattle industry has a new challenge — create its own standards that all of its buyers can use. The wrap-up event drew more than 300 ranchers and industry players to celebrate the accomplishment — a sharp contrast to the quiet, […] Read more
Activists press Olive Garden on antibiotics, worker pay
Los Angeles | Reuters — Dozens of activist groups, emboldened by recent policy shifts at major U.S. restaurants, are demanding Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants change its food and labour practices. Their sweeping agenda, part of a campaign called “Good Food Now,” includes calls for the nation’s largest full-service restaurant operator to strengthen its antibiotics […] Read more
Investor group launches campaign to curb antibiotic use in food
Reuters — Fifty-four large investors managing one trillion pounds (C$1.84 trillion) in assets have launched a campaign to curb the use of antibiotics in the meat and poultry used by 10 large U.S. and British restaurant groups. McDonalds and JD Wetherspoon were among those to receive a March 15 letter from institutions including Aviva Investors […] Read more
McDonald’s confident it is now serving ‘verified sustainable’ beef
It’s only a small amount at present, but McDonald’s says beef that meets its environmental and other standards is now in the supply chain
Reading Time: 3 minutes McDonald’s says it is now selling ‘verified sustainable’ beef — but is holding off on saying it has fulfilled the pledge it made to consumers two years ago. “We’re confident that we are sourcing verified sustainable beef because we have completed 82 full verifications,” said Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-Stilwell, senior manager of sustainability with McDonald’s Canada. “Because […] Read more
McDonald’s sales beat as all-day breakfast a hit
Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. reported better-than-expected quarterly same-restaurant sales as the launch of all-day breakfasts proved to be a hit with diners in the U.S. and demand continued to recover in China. The world’s biggest restaurant chain’s shares jumped 3.4 per cent in premarket trading on Monday. McDonald’s introduced all-day breakfasts in October in the […] Read more
Taco Bell to switch to cage-free eggs after 2016, ahead of rivals
Los Angeles | Reuters — Taco Bell said on Monday its more than 6,000 U.S. fast-food restaurants would stop using eggs laid by caged hens by Jan. 1, 2017, years ahead of the deadlines set by its bigger rivals. The announcement came amid mounting pressure on Taco Bell to remove artificial ingredients, to source products […] Read more
The nitty-gritty of becoming a ‘verified sustainable’ beef producer
Alberta Beef Producers chair Greg Bowie, who was verified in May, explains what’s involved
Reading Time: 4 minutes Thinking of becoming a producer of ‘verified sustainable beef,’ but wondering just what it involves? There are 31 indicators (available at vsbpilot.ca) that cow-calf producers must meet to qualify for McDonald’s program — and at first glance, it can all seem overwhelming. But it’s actually not that challenging, says Greg Bowie, a seedstock producer from […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
