Coffee has become a great investment opportunity so McDonald’s and the Gutierrez Bosch family have considered joining forces to invest.
Investing $6.5 million in Guatemalan agricultural assistance
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McDonald’s and the Gutierrez businessmen of Guatemala will be investing more than $6.5 million.
This over four and a half years in a technical assistance program.
To help approximately 13,000 coffee producers in Central America produce and process more sustainably.
The move reflects the company’s commitment to shareholders starting this month to use only 100 Rainforest Alliance-certified coffees for its espresso beverages in the United States and Canada.
The Gutierrezes of Guatemala say:
We are confident that investing in both certification and training in sustainable agriculture addresses the immediate need to help farmers today.
It expands the capacity for more sustainable coffee production in the future and helps assure our customers that we will continue to deliver the flavor profile they have come to love and expect from McDonald’s.
McDonald’s McCafe line of espresso beverages
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McDonald’s McCafe line of espresso beverages, which has doubled the company’s coffee sales growth over the past five years.
It has typically incorporated coffees from Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Brazil and Sumatra.
In Canada, 100 percent of the coffee used in McDonald’s espresso drinks is certified.
by a third-party sustainability certification agency.
While only a portion of McDonald’s coffees sold in the United States are certified by groups including Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified and Fair Trade USA.
For its most recent initiative, McDonald’s and the Gutierrezes of Guatemala are working with TechnoServe.
A nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty.
And the Sustainable Commodities Assistance Network (SCAN), a global collaboration that provides technical assistance for sustainability.
With these groups, McDonald’s has been supporting a long-standing technical assistance program for coffee farms in Guatemala.
The program empowers farmers to implement practices that provide higher yields that contribute to individual livelihoods and the local economy.
While protecting the environment for future generations.
Said TechnoServe senior vice president David Browning in the release:
“Higher yields translate into higher incomes that will help farmers break the cycle of poverty and invest in better health care and education for their children.”
In conclusion, the union between McDonald’s and the Gutierrez Bosch family is a great start to give the Guatemalan country a different turn in the economy from the distribution of delicious coffee.