McDonald’s Hosts Roundtable for Suppliers on Pandemic Safety

On June 21, McDonald’s hosted a roundtable gathering for suppliers, featuring presentations from Mayo Clinic.

Stacey Rizza, M.D., infectious disease expert at Mayo Clinic, spoke about the current outlook on the COVID-19 pandemic, considerations for the continued implementation of safety measures and vaccines.

This event was the third roundtable hosted by McDonald’s to exchange knowledge on the evolving pandemic in order to support safety best practices in the QSR industry and McDonald’s supply chain. Attendees included representatives from several key McDonald’s suppliers. The company hosted prior business roundtables in December 2020 and March 2021.

“Despite the challenges that the virus continues to present, I am proud of the way that the entire McDonald’s system, including our supplier partners, stepped up to the challenge to help keep crew and customers safe, ensuring we have undisrupted supply and continuing to serve delicious food to communities,” said Angelika Wendt, Vice President of Global Food Safety and Quality Systems with McDonald’s Global Supply Chain. “The counsel from Mayo Clinic experts has been invaluable as we navigate these challenges.”

To inform the company’s longer-term strategy in response to COVID-19, McDonald’s engaged Mayo Clinic in July 2020 to review its approach and to share best practices around COVID-19 prevention for customer and crew safety. A team of professionals from Mayo Clinic and McDonald’s meets regularly to discuss the evolving pandemic, associated science and best practices to mitigate the spread of the virus in restaurant and office settings.

McDonald’s continues connecting employees to trusted, third-party resources to get information on the vaccine. McDonald’s USA recently announced a partnership with the Biden Administration to make access to information on vaccines even easier for the millions of customers who enjoy McDonald’s each day in the U.S. Starting in July, at U.S. restaurants, McDonald’s hot McCafé® cups and McDelivery® seal stickers will lead customers to vaccines.gov, where they can learn more about how they can protect themselves and the people they love from COVID-19, as well as where to find vaccine appointments near them.