The coffee industry has been fighting climate change and fungal disease as of late, and that's been making life hard on farmers.
In a statement released on its website, McDonald’s announced its plan for a new coffee sustainability program, in which it will invest in farmer training for sustainability practices, and only be getting coffee from sustainable farming sources. McDonald's website explains:
Globally in 2015, about 37% of our total coffee bean purchases were from Rainforest Alliance Certified™, Fair Trade USA or UTZ Certified farms. The majority of our certified coffee purchases are from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms, including 100% of our espresso in the U.S. and Canada, all McDonald’s coffee served in Brazil and all of our coffee in Australia and New Zealand. McDonald's markets in Europe source 100% of their coffee -- with the exception of decaf -- from farms that are Rainforest Alliance Certified, UTZ Certified or Fair Trade International.
And McDonald's is planning on raising that 37% to 100% by the year 2020, as Bloomberg Market reports. CEO Steve Easterbrook, who took over the company in March 2015, is also making a few more changes to the ingredients list. The company will now be using cage-free eggs and removing artificial preservatives from its Chicken McNuggets. Bravo!
These kinds of moves are essential in a world where people are more health-conscious than ever and want to know where their food is coming from. The coffee sustainability program, however, is even more important. It ensures that there is enough coffee to go around for as long as possible, even with shortages due to the problems mentioned above.
Townsend Bailey, a McDonald’s representative, said “We want to make sure that we have sufficient supply of high-quality coffee for the long run. With changing dynamics in coffee with climate change, it’s really an important topic to make sure we are engaging farmers and helping them.”
Currently, McDonald’s U.S. Arabica beans are being sourced from Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru and El Salvador. Espresso beans also come from Indonesia. However, in this sustainability move where the company will be training local producers, the farmers' role will be critical as well.