McDonald’s Australia has revealed its Australian ‘shopping list’ from 2023, with the business purchasing over 330 million kilograms of local produce, products, and ingredients. This resulted in a total spend of more than $1 billion across the local supply chain.
McDonald’s purchased an extra 29 million kilograms of Australian items in 2023 when compared to 2022, said to be driven by “significant” demand for Australian beef from international McDonald’s restaurants and “consistent” purchasing of Australian produce such as lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers.
The full local 2023 ‘shopping list’ includes:
- 150 million kilograms of Australian potatoes for fries and hash browns
- 80 million kilograms of Australian beef for beef burgers in McDonald’s restaurants across Australia (36 million kilograms) and in McDonald’s restaurants around the world (44 million kilograms)
- 20 million kilograms of Australian RSPCA-approved chicken for Chicken McNuggets and burgers
- 52 million litres of fresh Australian milk for sundaes, shakes, frappes and coffees
- 21 million kilograms of Australian wheat flour for buns, apple pies and tortilla wraps
- 1.8 million kilograms of Australian cucumbers for McDonald’s signature pickles
- 79 million cage-free Australian eggs for McMuffins
- 3.9 million kilograms of Australian lettuce
- 1.7 million kilograms of Australian tomatoes
- 1.2 million kilograms of Australian onions
- 1.2 million kilograms of Australian apples for apple slices and pies
“Our billion-dollar spend in the local supply chain underscores McDonald’s Australia’s unwavering support of local farmers and suppliers,” says McDonald’s Australia Senior Director of Supply Chain Tom Mahony.
“McDonald’s has proudly supported the local agricultural industry for more than 50 years, sourcing great quality produce, ingredients and products from suppliers and farmers located in every state and territory.
“In 2023 alone, we served up approximately 49 million Big Mac burgers to customers across Australia, with each Big Mac featuring 100% Aussie beef, lettuce, wheat flour, pickles and onions sourced from farmers across Australia.”
One of the dedicated farmers behind McDonald’s purchase of 3.9 million kilograms of lettuce is Matt Vella, a third-generation lettuce grower from Camden, NSW.
“We’ve proudly partnered with McDonald’s for over a decade, supplying 3000kg of fresh, crisp iceberg lettuce each week, totalling more than 156,000kg per year,” he says.
“Our lettuce is grown here in Camden and delivered fresh to McDonald’s supplier, Golden State Foods, who wash, slice and package up the lettuce to be delivered to restaurants in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
“McDonald’s consistent and reliable weekly orders have been instrumental to our growth, enabling us to expand into a thriving 100-acre farm with over 30 employees.
“Having McDonald’s support is crucial – it allows us to continue doing what we love and showcases the quality of Aussie produce to millions of customers every day.”
