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McCain Foods 2022 sustainability report now available

On Jan. 25, McCain Foods Ltd. released its sustainability report, underpinning its commitment to producing planet-friendly food.

The report includes the organization’s sustainability results from the past fiscal year, demonstrating how McCain is responding to the challenges of climate change, its priority on enhancing soil health, and farming partners’ transition to more regenerative practices. Key strategic investments have also enabled the growth of plant-forward product innovations.  This year, the report is reinforced by a strengthened approach aligning to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard.

Working with its farmer partners, McCain has accelerated its regenerative agriculture ambition by providing technical assistance and financing opportunities that can help tackle the escalating impacts of climate change on yields and crop quality, as well as launched its second Farm of the Future in South Africa. McCain has also achieved its water-efficiency target, three years ahead of schedule, made marked improvements in CO₂ emissions reductions, and enhanced its usage of renewable electricity. The business has also made significant contributions to support the communities where it functions through donations and volunteering.

“Environmental and social stewardship are part of our DNA at McCain,” said Max Koeune, president and CEO of McCain Foods, in a press release. “The escalating climate and nature crises illustrate the fragility of our global food system with wide-reaching impact on consumers, growers, the land and communities. We believe agriculture can and must be transformed to safeguard our future and we are encouraged by the progress we are seeing in our sustainability journey. While much work remains, we are determined to continue to advance on our commitments.”

McCain’s Sustainability Report highlights include:

Smart and Sustainable Farming

• In the past year, McCain launched Farm of the Future Africa, where it will test regenerative farming in a southern hemisphere environment. The first crop of potatoes has been planted at the farm in Lichtenburg, South Africa. McCain has also implemented its Regenerative Agriculture Framework to support farmers and measure adoption of regenerative farming practices in priority regions, established financing partnerships for regenerative farming in France and Canada, achieved an eight per cent reduction in CO₂ emissions per tonne from potato farming, storage and freight, and improved water-use efficiency by 11 per cent in water-stressed regions.

Resource-Efficient Operations

• McCain’s use of renewable electricity is now up to 18.5 per cent of its total electricity use, with absolute CO₂ emissions reduced by six per cent from 2017 (Scope 1 and 2), and a 17 per cent reduction in CO₂ per tonne of product produced. Also, 98 per cent of McCain’s paper packaging and 90 per cent of its plastic packaging is now designed for recycling.

Good Food

• In 2022, McCain developed strategic partnerships with plant-forward food producers Strong Roots and The Simple Root while strengthening its partnership with innovative vertical farm GoodLeaf. All of McCain’s facilities are now GFSI certified, there has been noted sodium reduction and artificial ingredients removed from key products, and McCain has achieved 100 per cent voluntarily implementation of Nutriscore in France, Belgium and Germany and Health Star Rating in Australia.

Thriving Communities

• Over the course of 2022, McCain donated the equivalent of 10.9 million meals to food banks and NGOs, supported more than 1,200 staff in 19 countries in providing 6,432 volunteer hours, and reached 2,921 new beneficiaries through community projects and partnerships.

“We have made marked improvements through action and collaboration and will continue to embrace climatic challenges as opportunities to innovate and make meaningful change to the food system,” said Charlie Angelakos, vice-president, global external affairs and sustainability, at McCain Foods, in a press release.

To learn more about McCain’s sustainability strategy including its commitments, progress and results, check out the Regenerative Agriculture Framework.