McDonald’s customers have voted with their mouths, enjoying over five million kilos of locally-sourced Angus beef patties since the range was launched in 2009. To put that into perspective that’s roughly the same weight as nine Airbus A380 aircraft.
While gourmet burgers have been on trend for the last few years, McDonald’s was one of the first to start using quality, New Zealand Angus beef almost a decade ago. The burgers on offer have changed with customer tastes over the years, but Angus beef has proved consistently popular, with orders of the beef rising by nearly 24% in one year (2016 to 2017) and over 700,000 kilos of New Zealand Angus beef used in 2017 alone.
“New Zealand farmers have said that McDonald’s has played a pivotal role in making Angus beef accessible to Kiwis,” says David Howse, McDonald’s New Zealand managing director. “Prior to that Angus beef wasn’t that well known with Kiwis, and we also provided a new, consistent market for farmers in New Zealand.”
“Customers told us they loved the taste and quality of the locally-sourced, Angus beef, and the range of premium burgers. We’ve also used Angus beef to bring a new taste to old favourites like Angus Mac and Kiwi Angus. In 2015 we launched the Create Your Taste range, and we now have Gourmet Creations using 100% New Zealand prime Angus beef. As a sign of the times, you can even get the Loaded Lettuce burger, with an Angus beef patty in a lettuce wrap.”
Beef + Lamb New Zealand CEO Rod Slater commends McDonald’s for supporting the Angus beef industry in New Zealand.
“Serving more than 5.5 million kgs of New Zealand-bred Angus beef is a remarkable milestone to reach. Given the quality of our Angus beef, it’s no surprise that tender beef like this has been such a popular choice on McDonald’s menus since 2009.”
McDonald’s is one of the country’s biggest buyers of New Zealand beef, including Angus. In 2017 alone, the company purchased 5.5 million kgs for the local market and exported 33 million kgs to McDonald’s restaurants globally, representing 10 percent of New Zealand’s total beef exports.
