McDONALD'S TO SELL ORGANIC MILK

17 January 2003

McDonald's will be offering British organic milk to customers of the restaurant chain from the beginning of February. Their move to organic milk reflects the general public's growing interest in organic produce. The fresh semi-skimmed milk will be sold in 250ml bottles.

David Whiting, the Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative's (OMSCo) Marketing Director commented: "This is a very positive move by McDonald’s which meets our long term objective of making organic dairy mainstream. It means that three million customers a day will now have the opportunity to choose top quality organic milk and we hope that McDonald's will offer an even greater choice in the future."

"The market for organic milk is growing by 26% year on year and consumer research shows that growth has been driven by people's concerns about the impact of intensive farming on the environment," comments Whiting.

On the strength of research by NOP which showed that another six million people would buy organic milk if it was more widely available on the high street, OMSCo launched the Make Organic Milk Available campaign (MOMA). As part of this campaign, they contacted a number of retailers, restaurants, fast food stores and other outlets to encourage them to stock organic milk.

OMSCo will supply one of McDonald's existing quality suppliers, Express Dairies, through their Soil Association accredited site at Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire.

The move by McDonald's reinforces their ongoing commitment to sustainable farming practices. Keith Kenny, McDonald's UK Head of Supply Chain, commented: "The move is a natural progression, as we already offer free range eggs across our breakfast menu. We're keen to continue our support of British farmers by adding organic milk to our range of high quality products."


Editor's Notes

For more information, call Nicole Ralph-Bowman or the 'Drink Organic' team at Grayling on 0117 922 7799

The market for organic products as a whole has increased by 40% per year since 1995 and organic sales are expected to grow to £3 billion by 2005

OMSCo is the largest and longest established supplier of organic milk in the UK

OMSCo organic milk is produced from cows which are not given routine antibiotics, aren't fed GM feed and haven't grazed on pastures treated with artificial pesticides

The organic milk bottles will be available in all of McDonald's 1,230 restaurants across the UK and replace their previous non-organic line. The milk is available at no extra cost and will be on sale at 41p to take away and 49p to drink in the restaurant.

Average cow produces 6,200 litres per year
231 = Average number of cows required for McDonalds organic 250ml milk