|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
"We have decided to transition away from plastic bags, straws, cutlery, cups & join forces with FSSAI on RUCO"
|
|
Monday, 23 May, 2022, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
|
 Rajeev Ranjan, chief operating officer at CPRL (Connaught Plaza Restaurants, which operates McDonald’s restaurants in North and East India), in his current role, is responsible to lead strategy and operations at McDonald’s in North and East of India focussing on restaurant operations, supply chain, quality assurance, marketing, information technology and corporate communications functions. As the company plans growth in the core business and strengthening the brand’s reputation and enhancing customer’s delight in the region, he reveals some of McDonald's work in an email interaction with Ashwani Maindola. Excerpts:
Q1. What future do you see for QSRs in India and how do you observe competition?
A1. Industry reports suggest QSR segment is expected to grow at 20-25% CAGR till 2025. It is encouraging to see the QSR sector record quick post-Covid recovery demonstrating strong resilience. Seeing the opportunity this sector offers, many global chains are coming /planning to set up operation in our country. This will help expand the industry, create more jobs and offer customers soulful food and memorable experiences.
Q2. How do you observe growth and opportunities vis-à-vis QSRs in India?
A2. Our vision is to provide an international McDonald’s experience to the customers of North and East. We wish to offer our guests delightful experience through customer-centric menu innovations, technology led enhanced convenience andprovide experience of the future through our modernised restaurants.
Q3. How do companies like yours make sure that the consumers get the best of the food products?
A3. Food safety and quality is the core of McDonald’s. All McDonald’s products go through comprehensive and most stringent quality and sanitation checks, from farm to table.
We only use products and ingredients that meet or exceed the highest standards of quality and safety of McDonald's. Our suppliers, an integral part of our business, share our commitment when it comes to food safety with a safe, closed, and integrated supply chain thatare HACCP, GMP and Biosecurity certified. At all our restaurants, our food is prepared following the strictest of hygiene and food handling practices so that our esteemed customers can enjoy safe and delicious food every time they choose McDonald’s.
Q4. How brands like yours are opting for sustainable initiatives to become environment-friendly/sustainable?
A4. We’re constantly looking for new ways to drive circular economy. Our strategy is to reduce the use of plastics in packaging and switch to more and more sustainable materials. Sustainability is a key consideration in our procurement strategy.
Driven by our efforts to reduce conventional single-use plastics, we have decided to transition away from plastic bags, plastic straws, plastic cutlery, and plastic cups. All centrally sourced packaging in McDonald’s North and East India is Chain of Custody (CoC) certified, with 100% of wood fibre coming from recycled sources or forests certified to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard, a globally recognised standard for responsible forest management. We continue to work with our partners and suppliers in developing new innovative materials and technologies such as molded fibre. Our innovative and sustainable fibre packaging solutions include paper straws, Easy Open & Tamper-evident stickers for Carry Out Bags, and Tamper-evident labels for Cups in Delivery. Additionally, for our lids we are currently using bio-based plastic material (PLA) which can be industrially composted.
100% of the palm oil used in McDonald’s restaurants and as ingredients in McDonald’s products, supported the production of sustainable palm oil and deforestation-free supply chains in 2020. This is made possible with Mass Balance RSPO certification, which essentially provides standards and mandatory requirements for the production and procurement of RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). We are also ensuring repurposing of used cooking oil, by converting it bio diesel.
The fish sourced for McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich are wild-caught and sourced from sustainably managed fisheries, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). MSC is the world's leading certification and eco-labelling program for sustainable wild caught seafood. This process can trace the fish used in McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, from the restaurant where it’s served, back through the supply chain. This means McDonald’s knows where the fish is coming from and helping safeguard fish populations for this and future generations by supporting healthy and productive oceans. It’s exactly the same fish fillet you’d find in McDonald’s restaurants in India, as in any other part of the world.
Q5. FSSAI has launched RUCO scheme for used cooking oil to utilise for manufacturing biodiesel and other products. How do you see repurposing cooking oil playing a role in sustainable development goals?
A5. At McDonald’s, we want to help accelerate a circular economy, which is a key driver of our recycling strategy. We are focussed on closing the loop by using more and more recycled materials in our packaging, restaurants, and facilities, which includes the cooking oil that we use. Repurposing our used cooking oil is a common practice across many of our markets. In India – N&E, we have joined forces with FSSAI approved vendors within the RUCO ecosystem, which facilitates the collection of used cooking oil and inturn - its conversion into biodiesel. This biodiesel can be used in trucks, furnaces, boilers and being clean fuel,is known to have lower emissions than conventional fuel.
Q6. How does McDonald’s use its repurposed oil?
A6. Used cooking oil from our outlets is reprocessed into biodiesel through FSSAI-approved aggregators and biodiesel manufacturers. This biodiesel can be used as fuel in trucks, furnaces and boilers. Biodiesel is known to have lower emission characteristics and better cetane value than conventional fuel.
We recently ran a pilot with our distribution partner to encourage them to run vehicles on biodiesel. Additionally, a few of our suppliers also use our biodiesel in boilers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|