Burger Wars, Part 2: Ethical & Transparent

Douglas J. Peckenpaugh, Community Director of Content & Culinary Editor

The last decade has seen the average American invest progressively higher levels of energy into learning more about the origins of their foodnot just farm names and locations, as well as ingredient provenance as an extension of the go local phenomenon, but also agricultural and processing details. This culture of ultra-informed foodie exploration has resulted in consumers developing more personal connections to their daily sustenanceand more-informed consumers are usually good consumers.

But this scrutiny has also raised questions regarding certain livestock, cultivation and processing practices, with people increasingly doling out criticism and calling for change. The net result is an industry that is evermore transparent, and one thats adopting what some would consider more ethical practices.

Perhaps the most-importantand oft the most-focalcorner of the foodservice industry is fast food, otherwise known as QSR (quick-service restaurants), led by burger giants McDonalds, Wendys and Burger King, which currently face pressures from the rising better burger chains like Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Smashburger (the better burger chains sometimes get bumped up into the neighboring fast-casual segmentstill no table service, but slightly higher check averages and a generally perceived higher quality of food). Therefore, it makes logical sense that these burger-centric chains have been actively taking steps toward instituting the transparency and ethical measures currently called for by the masses.

A Question of Origins

The local food movement seeks to better connect consumers with the origins of their food. But this practice is extending beyond farmers markets and menu citations of the farm names that provided the local, sustainably raised heritage pork at the neighborhood progressive American bistro. Five Guys, which saw 32.8% sales growth ($950 million) in 2011 per Technomics Top 150 Fast-Casual Chain Restaurant Report, features a chalkboard near the front counter at many locations calling out the name and location of the farmer who cultivated that days potatoes used to make the fries. Almost invariably, that farm is hundreds of miles from that particular Five Guys location, but providing such information is a powerful psychological tool that further solidifies an emotional connection between chain and consumer.

Although it hasnt gone so far as to add fry origin information to menus, McDonalds took a step toward greater transparency in January of this year when it began publishing a Meet Our Suppliers section on its website, providing a peek into the origins of some of the chains coffee, beef, chicken and potatoes, with video spots featuring ranchers and farmers.

Sensitive Carnivores

The idea of todays modern sensitive carnivore (or sensivore, if you will) has gained considerable momentum over the last decade. This umbrella is home to a number of commingled concepts primarily related to the raising of cattle (beef and milk), chickens (both broilers and eggs) and pigs, including natural, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, sustainability and measures that support more-humane practices. (One recent development of note in the antibiotics camp: FDA is now requiring prescriptions for any antibiotic treatments for livestock per Final Guidance for Industry No. 209, The Judicious Use of Medically Important Antimicrobial Drugs in Food-Producing Animals, so antibiotic-free will be more of the standard than the exception moving forward.)

The drive to remove supplemental growth hormones and antibiotics from the diets of animals raised for slaughter is only partially motivated by humane sentiments to improve the quality of the animals lives (the other motivating factor stems from some consumers desire to avoid eating any foods exposed to antibiotics and hormones, as well as GMOs, pesticides, etc.). Other steps toward cruelty-free farming relate to the sourcing of cage-free eggs, along with pork raised without the use of gestation crates.

Although Chipotle Mexican Grilla pioneer in it support of a natural, sustainable and cruelty-free supply chainhas sourced pork from producers who do not use gestation crates since 2001 (the year it drafted and released its Food With Integrity manifesto), all three of our QSR burger giants (McDonalds, Wendys and Burger King) have come on board with the initiative in recent months, phasing out producers who employ the practice out of their supply chain unless they abandon the practice (use of gestation crates, formerly standard within the pork industry, hold pregnant sows in a protective environment so confining that they generally cannot even turn around throughout the course of their pregnancies; they also reduce potential hazards and streamline the ability to provide adequate food and water to each sow).

Where McDonalds goes, the rest of the food industry soon follows. After the highly publicized decisions of the big three burger chains to weed gestation crates out of their supply chain, the dominoes started falling. Foodservice companies and retailers across the board have been stating that they will likewise eliminate use of gestation crates in their supply chain, with some of the most recent announcements coming from national retailer Safeway and casual-dining chain Dennys.

More eggs served at the chains are likewise going cage-free. Burger King, which has been ramping up sourcing of cage-free eggs since 2007, has pledged to be 100% cage-free by 2017. If this is enough of a motivating factor to shift A.M. daypart business toward Burger King, it might give them an edge on its two rivals; Wendys sources a very limited number of cage-free eggs (less then 5%), and McDonalds board of directors rejected a motion to begin sourcing cage-free eggs back in 2010 (the chain is 100% cage-free in Europe, where the practice is much more common).

More-humane slaughter techniques are also coming into play. Earlier this year, Wendys announced that it was shifting to a low-atmospheric-pressure system (LAPS) pre-slaughter treatment for chickens, which renders the birds unconscious, deemed more humane compared to use of electric shock.

That Notorious Slime

By now the term pink slime has practically become a household word. And although the safety of lean, finely textured beef (LFTB) is undisputed, this is another issue related to transparency that directly engaged every major burger chain in this country.

This all began after Jamie Oliver spoke out against LFTB in April 2011 on an episode of this television show, Jamie Olivers Food Revolution. Then, in March 2012, ABC News aired its story on the widespread use of LFTB in ground beef throughout the industry, claiming that 70% of the ground beef in the countrys supermarkets contains it. Soon thereafter, retailers and chains alike began issuing reassuring statements noting that they do not use, or have never used, the product in their burgersor announcing that they would discontinue its use. Wendys ran newspaper advertisements in the countrys major media markets proclaiming that it had never used LFTB. McDonalds had discontinued use of the product by late 2011, and Burger King has ceased use, as well. Kroger, Safeway, Walmart and other national chains have stopped using it in their ground beef.

The pivotal aspect of this story is that the mass cessation of LFTB use was precipitated solely via the spread of informationnot by a contamination-oriented recall or other food-safety issue. The product, which is salvaged in rather utilitarian fashion from cattle carcasses after all usable cuts have been removed, heated to render off fat, and sterilized with ammonia, is completely safe. But once consumers discovered that there was more to their ground beef than they expected, they felt betrayedand reacted swiftly, ending careers, catalyzing company bankruptcies and affecting change throughout the industry.

This is a major lesson for the food industryregardless of whether you conduct business in the retail space or foodservice. Transparency is fast becoming de rigueur. Each ingredient, every processing step, every stop along the supply chain, the packaging, your companys environmental impact, etc.in short, every aspect of your businessshould face scrutiny to ensure that it aligns with your target audience and that you dont have any potentially devastating skeletons in your closet. Information travels at the speed of electricity these days, and careers can be madeor endovernight.

For part one of this ongoing series of articles examining activity in todays burger industry, see Burger Wars, Part 1: Game Changers .