“They’re also one of Fonterra’s strategic food service customers, so being named supplier of the year for the first time ever is a huge achievement and recognition for Fonterra’s team who’s been working with McDonald’s for years,” Ryan said.
Fonterra supplies many dairy products to McDonald’s, including the unique golden cheese that goes into their famous Big Mac.
Each year, the co-op supplies about 27,000 metric tonnes of its cheese to McDonald’s.
If you’re enjoying a cheeseburger at a McDonald’s anywhere across Asia Pacific, there’s a high chance that cheese comes from their manufacturing site in Eltham, Taranaki.
Their site in Eltham can produce enough cheese slices for up to 3 billion burgers each year.
Apart from cheese, they also supply other dairy products to McDonalds such as the dairy that goes into their soft serve.
“What makes Fonterra stand out as a supplier to global customers like McDonalds?” Kelly asked.
Ryan said they really value the depth of knowledge and experience that Fonterra has in the dairy industry.
They value the quality of products and their supply chain and the robustness and resistance that they can provide because if you don’t have the cheese to go on your burger, you can’t open your restaurant, so that is key for them.
Ryan saw the award as an acknowledgement that they are doing a great job on all those fronts of McDonald’s.
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“Whether a Big Mac is served in New Zealand, China or Dubai, you really want the same flavour and experience for your consumers and that is important for the food service industry as a whole so being able to deliver that consistent result for the largest restaurant brand in the world is a really great testament to the amazing progress we have made in the food service channel,” she said.
“Receiving this recognition from McDonald’s demonstrates the progress we’re making to keep driving momentum for our food service channel and we will continue to go from strength to strength.”
