Most
of people don’t know that good companies work at getting better all of the
time. According to Steven Johnson grocerant guru, at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, “Its
work that is done behind the scene that take testing, time, and talent combined
with hard work that helps leading companies get better over time.”
McDonald’s
is one of those companies and in case you were wondering at McDonald’s progress
against their 2018 Happy Meal
nutrition and marketing goals was detailed recently in a report released by
public policy economic consulting firm Keybridge, LLC. In collaboration with
Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a leading U.S. children’s health
organization, McDonald’s set Global
Happy Meal Goals in 2018 aiming to make balanced meals more accessible to
families and children across the world.
The
report concluded that between 2018–2022, McDonald’s:
·
Served
more than 5.7 billion items containing fruit, vegetable, low-fat dairy, whole
grain, lean protein, or water via the Happy Meal
·
Reduced
average calories in Happy Meal Bundle Offerings by 6 percent, sodium by 9
percent, saturated fat by 15 percent, and added sugar by 26 percent
·
Introduced
70 new fruit, vegetable, low-fat dairy, whole grain, lean protein, and water
options to the Happy Meal menu, including more than 30 fruit options
·
Removed
100 percent of artificial flavors, added colors from artificial sources, and
artificial preservatives where feasible from Happy Meal Offerings
·
Promoted
water, milk or juice as the beverage, and fruit, vegetable or dairy items as
the side in 100 percent of Happy Meal ads
·
Made
Happy Meal nutrition information accessible on websites and mobile ordering
apps
All
per external measurement and reporting in 20 of McDonald’s major markets, which
collectively account for nearly 85 percent of global Happy Meal sales.
Kathy
Higgins, chief executive officer at Alliance for a Healthier Generation,
stated, “The impressive results of this report prove that meaningful change is
possible when you combine the global scale of a corporation like McDonald’s
with the expertise of Healthier Generation,”. “When Healthier Generation
collaborated with McDonald’s to set these goals in 2018, we could not have
imagined the ways in which our world and businesses would have to adapt.
Nevertheless, McDonald’s dedication and persistence toward the goals, and
ultimately to families around the world, resulted in meaningful change.”
Julia
Braun, Director of Global Nutrition at McDonald’s, stated, “Over the last five years, we’ve made
significant improvements to our Happy Meal nutritional profile, ingredients,
and marketing practices around the world. “As a Dietitian and Mom, I’m proud of
our markets’ efforts to introduce and creatively promote fruit and vegetable
offerings that are fun and accessible to kids, providing families with choices
they can feel good about.”
In
case you did not know, the 2018 Global Happy Meal Goals build on McDonald’s and
Healthier Generation’s longstanding relationship. McDonald’s initial set of
global commitments, announced in 2013, focused on increasing families’ access
to fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy and water. These commitments greatly
increased the variety of side options in Happy Meal, helping introduce items
such as grape tomatoes in Australia, corn cups in Taiwan, and heart-shaped
carrots in Austria.
In
2018, McDonald’s renewed their commitment with five new global goals to offer
more nutritious meals, simplify ingredients, increase transparency with Happy
Meal nutrition information, reinforce responsible marketing practices to
children, and leverage innovative marketing to promote the purchase of
recommended food groups in Happy Meal. As part of these commitments, markets around
the world continued to introduce new, exciting sides for children and families,
such as cucumber sticks in the UK, a veggie cup in China and pear slices in
France.
Are you looking for a new partnership
to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing
tactics look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the
clue you need to propel your continued success.
