NCGA's Tolman Attends First-Ever McDonald's Food Symposium (10-31-05)

National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) CEO Rick Tolman attended the first-ever McDonald's Quality Symposium in Chicago last week to gain an understanding of what relationship the fast-food restaurant can have with farmers.

"The meeting was a great opportunity to hear what is on McDonald's mind as they look to the future," Tolman said. "They have a good connection to American agriculture, being one of the largest purchasers of farm products. They have put a tremendous supply and distribution chain together with a real strong emphasis on quality, freshness and nutrition. They also are focusing more attention on environmentally friendly packaging, an area that we think we can help with our corn-based renewable plastics. All around, it was a good meeting for NCGA to attend."

McDonald's has 33,000 restaurants worldwide, with each restaurant averaging about $2 million in revenue each year. They serve more than 50 million customers a day and are the largest food retailer in the world.

The chain has focused more on healthy and fresh food in recent years. "One of the highlights of the meeting was McDonald's announcement of new consumer friendly-labeling that they will incorporate to better tell the nutrition story and allow consumers more information with which to make healthy decisions," Tolman said..

He noted developing a relationship with McDonald's is one way farmers can move up the value chain of agriculture.

"We should be looking at ways to develop a relationship with McDonald's and other food retailers as a way of better staying in tune with consumer trends. Farmers and those of us who represent farmers need to better understand the wants and needs of the ultimate consumer in order to more quickly react and respond and produce what they want and need,"he said. "By doing this, farmers will produce products of more value and be able to share in that value and find ways to move up the value chain. We can talk with McDonald's and their suppliers and find out what they need from us, what we can provide and build a working relationship. We can become an active participant instead of a bystander."

Tolman saluted praised McDonald's efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle and allow informed consumer choice.

"The United States has the world's most abundant, healthy and economical food supply in the world. U.S. farmers have a key stake in helping to make sure that it stays this way and that consumers are well aware," Tolman concluded.