McDonald's honors Cargill with seven "Best of Sustainable Supply" awards

MINNEAPOLIS, April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- McDonald's, one of Cargill's largest global customers, honored Cargill today with seven "Best of Sustainable Supply" awards, including two category winners for community impact and economics. McDonald's bestows the awards to recognize outstanding supplier leadership in helping provide a safe, sustainable and assured supply of food and products for its customers, and to encourage the sharing of best practices in sustainability.

"We strive every day to help our customers achieve their goals, including helping them deliver more sustainable products, services and solutions," said Pete Richter, head of Cargill's McDonald's Business Unit.  "The seven projects honored today range from work we do in direct partnership with McDonald's to initiatives we lead as we make corporate responsibility integral to our day-to-day operations."

The Cargill projects recognized by McDonald's are helping reduce environmental impacts, improving sustainability and enabling farmers and rural communities to prosper. They include:

• Raising yields of canola per acre to fulfill McDonald's requirements for high-oleic canola oil;
• Establishing Indonesia's first palm oil teaching farm;
• Implementing renewable energy sources in chicken housing to reduce the housing's carbon footprint while improving animal health;
• Helping cocoa farmers implement sustainable practices, improve production and quality and earn better prices;
• Collaborating with World Wildlife Fund to boost corn production while protecting environmentally sensitive lands in Northeast China's Jilin province;
• Setting environmental targets for stevia cultivation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water use and waste and ensure Truvia® stevia is not grown on conservation or protected lands;
• Working with CARE to reduce hunger, increase farmer productivity and improve children's education.

These seven Cargill projects were among 51 honored by McDonald's with its 2014 Best of Sustainable Supply awards.

About Cargill
Cargill provides food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services to the world. Together with farmers, customers, governments and communities, we help people thrive by applying our insights and nearly 150 years of experience. We have 142,000 employees in 67 countries who are committed to feeding the world in a responsible way, reducing environmental impact and improving the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit Cargill.com and our News Center.

SOURCE Cargill