June 21, 2024
(press release)
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- Promoting high-quality, green white-feather chicken farming in the industry for more than 30 years McDonald's China launched the "Cage-Free Chicken" logo for the first time, allowing more consumers to understand the high-quality white-feathered chickens used by McDonald's, and further promoting high-quality, green white-feathered chicken farming and the practice of regenerative agriculture. From now on, McDonald's China's signature chicken products - Spicy Chicken Thighs, Spicy Chicken Wings, Teriyaki Chicken Thighs, McMcCrispy Chicken and other product packaging and online ordering channels will add the "Cage-Free Chicken" logo, and more than 6,000 McDonald's restaurants across the country will also simultaneously use the "Cage-Free Chicken" limited plate paper. "We are pleased to share with consumers the efforts and persistence of McDonald's in the past 30 years since entering mainland China through the 'Cage-Free Chicken' logo: 100% high-quality white-feathered chicken raised without cages," said Zhang Jiayin, CEO of McDonald's China. "China has an excellent natural breeding environment, and we hope to continue to reduce the impact on the environment and allow nature to thrive. At the same time, cage-free breeding allows white-feathered chickens to have greater activity and produce higher-quality chicken. On June 26, we will also bring Chinese consumers the new blockbuster thin-skinned, charred V-wings made with 'cage-free chicken'." Cage-free chickens: high-quality, green white-feathered chicken farming Chicken is the most commonly used meat type at McDonald's China. McDonald's China works closely with its supplier partners to provide customers with high-quality, delicious chicken products. In accordance with McDonald's quality management, animal health and welfare, and regenerative agriculture guidelines and requirements, supplier partners raise white-feathered chickens in a high-quality, green way. One of the special requirements is that 100% of the white-feathered chickens used by McDonald's are raised in a "cage-free" way, that is, the white-feathered chickens are not restrained by cages in the breeding space and can move freely, eat, move and rest fully. By paying attention to animal welfare, the health level and chicken quality are improved. According to observations and statistics, the average number of steps taken by white-feathered chickens raised in a cage-free way is more than 1,000 per day[1]. The "cage-free" requirement has been implemented for more than 30 years since McDonald's entered mainland China in 1990. In addition to the characteristics of "cage-free farming", McDonald's "cage-free chicken" also has strict requirements on the site selection, floor environment and grain feeding of chicken houses to promote high-quality white-feathered chicken farming. The chicken house needs to be located in a quiet area away from the downtown area, and the surrounding water and soil are not polluted; the breeding space needs to be flat and open to ensure ventilation, cleanliness and activity space for each white-feathered chicken. Professional breeders are closed together with the white-feathered chickens to manage them, pay attention to the growth and health of the white-feathered chickens, strictly abide by relevant national requirements, and do not use any growth hormones in the white-feathered chicken farming process; the feed eaten by white-feathered chickens is scientifically nutritionally matched to meet the growth needs of different stages. At the same time, McDonald's is also working with suppliers to explore greener white-feathered chicken farming models. For example, it is piloting the use of renewable energy such as solar energy to provide electricity for lighting and equipment needed for farming, and exploring more effective ways to collect and process chicken manure to ensure that the chicken coops are clean, reduce the impact on the surrounding environment, and turn waste into treasure. Starting in 2021, McDonald's has been certified by the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS), ensuring the global sustainable cultivation of soybeans used in farming and the social responsibility of the soybean industry. Cage-free chickens: Let more consumers know about the white-feathered chickens used by McDonald's In order to allow more consumers to understand white-feather chickens correctly and scientifically and experience the quality of McDonald's chicken, McDonald's China launched the "Cage-Free Chicken" logo. Starting from the consumer demand side, it supports supplier partners' high-quality, green white-feather chicken breeding practices. Starting from June 19, the "Cage-Free Chicken" logo will appear on the packaging of McDonald's chicken products, including spicy chicken thighs, spicy chicken wings, teriyaki chicken thighs, and crispy chicken. McDonald's China's online ordering channels will also launch the "Cage-Free Chicken" logo. McDonald's China has also designed a cute cartoon image for "Cage-Free Chicken" and used four "Cage-Free Chicken Boxing" techniques - "Cage-Free Stretch Boxing", "Quiet Mind Cultivation Method", "Qi Refreshing Heart Communication Technique" and "Feng Can Spread Wings Technique" to vividly describe the cage-free breeding, chicken house site selection, flat environment and grain feeding in the process of white-feathered chicken breeding. The limited-edition plate paper of this theme has been launched in more than 6,000 McDonald's restaurants across the country. Consumers can also download and use the same WeChat emoticon package of "Cage-Free Chicken". Starting in 2023, McDonald's will launch the "Maimai Farm" food exploration and traceability project. "Cage-free chicken" will also be featured in the Maimai Farm live broadcast in June. Through McDonald's WeChat video account and Douyin Doujin store live broadcast room, McDonald's will take viewers to a base for raising "cage-free chickens" at the foot of the Wuyi Mountains in Nanping, Fujian, to observe and understand the supplier's white-feathered chicken breeding process, and talk face-to-face with breeders and base experts about the high quality and green stories behind "cage-free chickens". This time, McDonald's also specially invited the anchor of CCTV Agriculture to visit "cage-free chickens" together. Mai Mai Farm: Working with suppliers to promote regenerative agriculture and present good food together McDonald's continues to work closely with suppliers based on the "three-legged stool" concept, jointly implementing the requirements and concepts of food safety, quality management and sustainable development, and presenting fresh, safe and natural high-quality ingredients to consumers. In 2023, McDonald's China launched a regenerative agriculture plan, announcing that it will work with nine major suppliers to focus on five major areas: nature, soil, water, livestock and farmers, to achieve the systematic and large-scale promotion and implementation of regenerative agriculture concepts and practices, so that good ingredients and nature can continue to thrive. Take chicken as an example. After McDonald's entered mainland China, it actively introduced and developed relevant suppliers to ensure high-quality, stable and sustainable supply in China. At the same time, it also introduced and implemented the world's advanced white-feathered chicken farming concepts and requirements, persisting for more than 30 years and continuously leading the development of the industry. Now, chicken suppliers such as Tyson, Sunnong, Sun Valley, Fengxiang, and Charoen Pokphand, as well as the broiler farmers behind them, all implement common standards to form a "McMcFarm" community, bringing "cage-free good chickens" to McDonald's consumers and promoting the high-quality and green development of white-feathered chicken farming and processing. Fu Fenfang, Chairman of Sunner Group, said: "We are very pleased to present 'cage-free chicken' with McDonald's China. McDonald's has been adhering to the requirements of cage-free farming, chicken house site selection, flat environment and grain feeding for more than 30 years, which also allows us to continuously improve high-quality and green farming methods and jointly promote the growth, progress and improvement of China's white-feathered chicken farming industry." Footnote: [1] This is based on the average walking distance data of white-feathered chickens of appropriate age measured by monitoring equipment in the chicken farms of some suppliers.
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