Introduction to McDonald’s and French Fries Sourcing Process

Different organizations have different ways of sourcing their product. Having a well-outlined process enables the business to be more successful in attaining its goal. McDonald is a global company that specializes in the food chain in fast food. The company operates across 119 countries and in 36658 outlets (Christian, & Gereffi, 2018). The main brands that the company deals with are cheeseburgers, hamburgers, chicken, products, desserts and breakfast items. However, the most famous product of the company is the French fries, which are sold in the United States of America. The product is produced from potatoes, Russet Burbank and Shepody. The company has been very successful in the selling of French fries. This is because most of the sales are made in the United States. The company has faced a lot of criticism in the past years. This is because it has not been able to follow green initiatives in the event of procuring the ingredients used in making the French fries.

The following is a research that is objective in giving recommendations to the company on what ways the company can be able to complete a green sourcing process. The report first outlines the recent sourcing practices for French fries in the company. The report recommends the ways in which the company is able to implement the process. This is done by exploring all the steps that are required to enable the company to implement the Green Sourcing Process.

The current sourcing process for the company is as follows. The company prepares the French fries from these ingredients; “canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, safflower, natural flavor, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, Dimethylpolysiloxane, potatoes and vegetable oil for frying” (Jackson, et al 2018). The company has been able to portray their commodity as the most famous commodity worldwide. However, there are many weaknesses in the company unsustainable process of sourcing the ingredients that are used in the preparation. The major ingredients used in the preparation of the French fries are the potatoes. In one year, the company uses around 3.4 billion pounds to purchase potatoes for the whole United States of America.

 The company prefers to use russet Burbank type of potato spices in the production of the French fries. However, that kind of potato spices is subject to rooting and having other diseases which leave a farmer with no option but to use large amounts of pesticides to protect their crops. The people living around the potato farms are always affected by the use of pesticides in the potato farms. This is because the pesticides are blown by the wind to the area of residents of many people from the potato farms (Lim, Kang, & Kim, 2017). The idea is that the type of potatoes that the company use is to make the French fries are affected by pesticides to a greater extent. The pesticides have a greater negative effect on the people living around the farms. From the environmental protection agency report, it is clear that nearly 98.5% of the potato farms in Northern Minnesota are sprayed after every five days.  In addition, it is clear those pesticides contains carcinogens such as Chlorothalonil, which affects the nervous systems of children.

Issues with McDonald’s Current Sourcing Process

It is clear that the procurement practice of the company is unsustainable. This is because pesticides applied in potato farms are a great pollutant to the environment. The impact is majorly affecting human and other animals in the environment. In addition, the pesticide drift has an ecological effect that leads to great economic losses.  From the environment protection agency, there is a lot of money that is wasted by the farmer on pesticides. The farmers waste around 70 million pounds on pesticides from the effects of the pesticide drift per year. Moreover, many complaints are raised by people in the state and local agencies about the effects that are brought by the drift per year. The company, on the other hand, has been defending the use of pesticides to be able to maintain quality potatoes for the production of French fries. However, the company has been accused to be involved in environmental degradation by many groups such as the Toxic Taters Coalition group (Mathiyazhagan et al 2018). The group pleads with McDonald’s to control suppliers of potatoes to reduce environmental degradation.

Apart from using a non-green method of sourcing potatoes, the company does not apply the initiative of sustainable procurement in sourcing the other ingredients used in the preparation of the French fries (Duarte, & Cruz Machado, 2017). For instance, in the current world canola oil that the company uses is genetically modified. In addition, the company uses hydrogenated soybean, which is made genetically. The oil is very dangerous for human consumption and may lead to health complications. Safflower oil is subjected to vary a lot of heat and therefore can lead to inflammable to the human being. In addition, the company natural flavor is added to the French fries, which is not healthy for the brains of a human. In colorizing the French fries, the company uses sodium acid pyrophosphate, which can be very hazardous for consumption. The hydrogenated soybean oil is dangerous to the DNA and can cause cancer if one consumes it for a long time.

The potatoes used in the preparation of the French fries have been found to contain large amounts of toxic remains from pesticides (De Giacomo et al, 2018). This is very harmful to the human life and is not good for human consumption. Therefore, the ingredients used by the company in the preparation of the French fries raises many questions about the effects they can have to human beings. The company should take a quick action and apply sustainable raw materials to in the production of the French fries. This is to avoid the actions of the government, which is taken against the company will lead to a lot of negative impact on the company. In another word, the company needs to apply sustainable procurement in their supply chain. This will enable the company to reduce the criticism that is levied on it. The company should be able to include a sustainable practice for their general supply chain.  The company should also consider social, economic and environmental factors in their sustainable practices (Sharma, Chandna, & Bhardwaj, 2017).

Recommendations for Implementing Green Sourcing Process in McDonald’s

McDonald’s should first and for most consider the opportunities, they have in the effort of adopting a sustainable green sourcing practice (Diabat, & Govindan, 2011).  They should consider the options of the ingredients they have and see what they can replace other than the use of harmful ingredients. The next step that the company should take is involving their stakeholders of the internal supply chain. They should make sure that they understand the requirements of the business and, specifications of the product and their stakeholder’s opinions on the supply chain. They should ensure that their product specification is environmentally friendly and does not have negative impacts on the public (Elliott et al, 2017). The company can do this by finding another kind of potato species that can replace the one they use today. The kind of potatoes species that they use should be able to do without having to apply pesticides.

When it comes to the sale of the product, the company should be able to assess the supply market. The company should be able to identify green opportunities and new ways to prepare the French fries. This involves citing the available alternatives of the commodities that the company can use in the preparation process (Al-Ghwayeen, & Abdallah, 2018). The company should be able to engage new vendors in assessing the supply market of the product. The company by including vendors who specialize in sustainable and more efficient products will be able to implement the benefits of green sourcing. The most important step in the preparation is identifying the sourcing strategy. The sourcing strategy depends on the information on the available alternatives stated there before. The company in order to identify the best sourcing strategy should engage stakeholders to be able to implement the strategy.

In the implementation of the sourcing strategy identified in step for the company should analyze the costs and benefits of a sustainable sourcing process (Mathews, 2018). The company should also communicate with diverse stakeholders to be able to gain support in the green sourcing process. The sourcing process should environmental friendly to prevent negative effects on the public. After selecting the vendors and finalizing the contracts, the procurement process should now begin. The attributes of the sustainability process should be given close attention and audited properly (Ehtesham Rasi, 2018). Define the metrics for the supplier considering the performance, compliance, and delivery. Lastly put into consideration the goals of the organization and the effects of the sourcing process.

Opportunities for Identifying Vendors and Assessing the Supply Market

In conclusion, a company needs to have a sourcing process that is environmentally friendly and that does to impact negatively to the people. The McDonalds current sourcing process is not friendly to the environment and leads to many complications. The company should consider reviving the process and apply a sustainable sourcing process to be able to meet the environmental demand. The process that the company should use in the implementation of the green sourcing process should be well outlined and consultations made by all the stakeholders. This will enable a successful process, which will lead to success in the business.

References

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Duarte, S., & Cruz Machado, V. (2017). Green and lean implementation: an assessment in the automotive industry. International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, 8(1), 65-88.

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Jackson, P., Brembeck, H., Everts, J., Fuentes, M., Halkier, B., Hertz, F. D., … & Wenzl, C. (2018). A Short History of Convenience Food. In Reframing Convenience Food (pp. 15-38). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Christian, M., & Gereffi, G. (2018). Fast-Food Value Chains and Childhood Obesity: A Global Perspective. In Pediatric Obesity (pp. 717-730). Humana Press, Cham.

Lim, M. H., Kang, Y. S., & Kim, Y. (2017). Effects of corporate social responsibility actions on South Korean adolescents’ perceptions of the food industry. Sustainability, 9(2), 176.