How McDonald’s Canada returned to sourcing 100% Canadian beef

Nicole Z. | Senior Manager, Supply Chain Management | Toronto, Canada

You wouldn’t think a supply chain the scale of McDonald’s could be nimble – rather more like the proverbial ocean liner, difficult to maneuver or slow to react. 

But in fact, agility is one of its great assets, thanks to strong, long-lasting partnerships with a vast network of suppliers around the world. 

As a Supply Chain Manager for McDonald’s Canada, I saw first-hand how that resilience and flexibility was tested during the pandemic. 

The resiliency of the McDonald’s supply chain and the Canadian beef industry helped McDonald’s Canada return to sourcing 100% Canadian Beef.

Since 2003, McDonald’s Canada has been proud to source 100% Canadian beef. The impact of COVID-19 on the Canadian beef supply chain, however, meant we had to temporarily supplement our raw material supply with a small quantity of imported beef. 

For those of us at McDonald’s who work directly with our supplier-partners, we knew this was a challenging time for the Canadian beef industry and we wanted to demonstrate our commitment to these farmers and ranchers.  

We continued to source as much Canadian beef as much as possible during the height of the pandemic, maintaining more than 80 percent Canadian supply on average. In addition, McDonald’s Canada donated $100,000 to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Foundation. 

In September, we returned to sourcing 100% Canadian beef, a testament to the resiliency of the beef industry supply chain, as well as our confidence in the Canadian beef industry, our longtime partners.

Today, as someone who works with suppliers every day, I can see that agility in action and I’m grateful for the 65 years of groundwork that makes McDonald’s supply chain the best in the industry. 

Full speed ahead.

"I’m grateful for the 65 years of groundwork that makes McDonald’s supply chain the best in the industry."