With the publication of its yearly Global Sustainability Report, which contains data from the previous Fiscal Year, McCain Foods demonstrated the advancements it is making toward its sustainability goals.

McCain recently announced that it is well on its way to reaching this milestone, with 51% of its global potato acreage already on board with McCain’s Regenerative Agriculture Framework, and 28% moving up the framework towards more comprehensive adoption of regenerative practices. The goal is to implement regenerative agriculture practices across 100% of the global acreage that grows potatoes for McCain products by the end of the decade.

“As one of the most vulnerable sectors impacted by climate change, the food system is one of the most important levers to help drive a sustainable and resilient future. That is why sustainability is at the heart of our purpose as a business. We are pleased to share an update on how we are making strides toward our goals in key areas that will ensure we have resource-efficient operations, are farming smartly and sustainably, and are contributing to building thriving communities in the areas that we operate, all while we continue to produce good food,” Max Koeune, President and CEO of McCain Foods, mentioned.

Through its direct relationships with farmers, which comprise a global network of 3,500 partners, McCain is expediting the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices. It does this by offering technical and educational support and creating creative financing solutions to offset the costs associated with implementing new technologies and changing farming practices.

McCain provides an account of a normal year in Farm of the Future Canada’s regenerative agricultural cycle as part of the 2023 Sustainability Report. This in-depth exploration brings the regenerative transition to life and draws connections between the lessons learned at Farm of the Future Africa and those in the Southern Hemisphere.

Through a process of trial and error and learning from the results of putting regenerative agricultural principles into reality, McCain has helped farmers become more competitive and resilient over the long haul. McCain’s position as a world leader in food production is strengthened by its ongoing emphasis on agricultural innovation.

In the 2023 Global Sustainability Report, McCain highlights the following results across four key pillars, underscoring its ongoing commitment to prioritizing sustainability across its global operations:

Smart and Sustainable Farming – in addition to progressing on commitments towards regenerative agriculture, McCain has completed its first season at Farm of the Future Africa and third season at Farm of the Future Canada, improved water-use efficiency in water-stressed regions by 9.4%, delivered more than 23,500 hours of training to farmers and has achieved its goal to ensure 21.9% of the potatoes grown for McCain are water stress-tolerant varieties;

Resource-Efficient Operations – more than 21% of the electrical energy used by McCain was from renewable sources and absolute carbon emissions (Scope 1 and 2) were reduced by 9.8% from 2017. McCain has also achieved a 16.3% improvement in water-use efficiency in priority plants. Additionally, 98.5% of McCain’s paper packaging and 87.8% of its plastic packaging are designed for recycling;

Good Food – McCain launched new global policies for clean ingredients and nutrition while maintaining 100% Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certification at all McCain-owned facilities — and 96% GFSI certification of all Tier 1 ingredient supplier facilities. Sodium was reduced by 6.6% in McCain-branded appetizer products, and the company has continued to remove artificial ingredients from key products;

Thriving Communities – in 2023, McCain employees provided more than 17,000 volunteer hours through the McCain Chips In initiative, reached 2,716 new beneficiaries with development programs and partnerships, and donated the equivalent of 11.9 million meals.

“While we are proud of how far we have progressed towards our goals, we recognize there is more to be done. But we know this is not something we can do alone. Partnership and knowledge are crucial to move forward. We will continue to look to stakeholders – from our farmers to government, to financial institutions, NGOs, suppliers, customers, and other players in the food system – to collaborate on this journey towards planet-friendly food,” Koeune concluded.