Behind the Big Mac: Processing 5.3t of Irish beef/hr for McDonald's
In the second of a two-part series, Agriland is examining the importance of Irish beef in the McDonald's supply chain.
Established in Co. Waterford in 1980, Dawn Meats now operates in 9 countries, with 11 locations in Ireland.
The company processes approximately 400,000 cattle in Ireland annually, supplied by around 14,000 Irish beef farmers.
The Carroll's Cross plant in Co. Waterford, where Dawn Meats was founded, is a dedicated McDonald’s facility for the UK and Ireland.
Richard Clinton, group commercial director with Dawn Meats, said that €25 million has been invested at the Carroll's Cross plant since 2012, increasing capacity by 40%.
All of the beef supplied to the site is from farms that are part of the Bord Bord Sustainable Beef and Lamb Quality Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) allowing for full traceability.
"McDonald's are committed to sourcing Irish beef from Bord Bia [quality] assured farms on an ongoing basis and they have done for many many years.
"That's a critical partnership in terms of the development of their business and to ensure trust from the ultimate consumer in the product we serve them with," Clinton said.
Last August, Dawn Meats introduced a new sustainability programme for Irish beef farmers, which is being supported and co-funded by McDonald’s.
The €4.4 million ACTIVATE farm sustainability programme pays farmers for successfully implementing sustainability actions and reducing emissions.
Dawn Meats
The Dawn Meats Carroll's Cross facility processes 5.3t of beef every hour. This equates to 47,000 quarter pounder patties per hour being produced for McDonald's restaurants in Ireland, the UK and Europe.
Of this total, 7,000 quarter pounders per hour are produced specifically for the Irish market.
Peter Roche, who is site manager at Carroll's Cross, told Agriland that the burger patties are made of 100% meat.
When the cuts of whole muscle, from the flank and forequarter of the animal, arrive on site they are fully inspected prior to processing to ensure compliance with the specification.
In order to make the burger patties, frozen and fresh meat are firstly put through separate grinders before being combined.
The reason for using frozen meat is to ensure a patty temperature of -1°C at the forming stage.
Once the forming stage is complete, the patties then travel through an in-line freezer which freezes the patties to a temperature of -18°C.
An x-ray machine then carries out a final check on the appearance and shape of the patties.
Every hour, patties are selected from each line to undergo testing in an on-site kitchen, including being cooked on grills identical to those at McDonald's restaurants.
Once a batch has undergone the necessary checks, the patties are then placed into bags of defined weights before being packed into boxes and shipped.
McDonald's
McDonald’s has been present in Ireland since 1977 and currently has 95 restaurants operated by 19 franchisees which directly employ almost 9,000 people.
Over 170,000 customers are served at McDonald's restaurants across the country every day.
In 2023, the company spent nearly €242 million with supply chain businesses based in Ireland.
McDonald's has longstanding partnerships with companies such as Dawn Meats; Dew Valley Foods; Kerry Group; Greenfield Foods Ltd; Lakeland Dairies and Lee Strand.
Joe Byrne began his career with McDonald's over 40 years ago when he joined the company as a crew member in the Grafton Street restaurant in Dublin in 1977.
In 1994, Joe opened his first restaurant on the Cork Road in Waterford, which makes him the longest serving franchise owner in Ireland.
He opened his second McDonald’s restaurant in 1997 in Waterford city centre. Between the two restaurants, Joe employs over 195 people from the local community.
Some of Joe's team member have been with him for over two decades, while two managers have worked alongside him since the first day he opened his restaurant in 1994.
"Sustainable Irish beef is extremely important to us as a brand and to the Irish people. They like provenance, they know that our beef is coming from the best farms.
"We probably wouldn't be as successful as we are without Irish beef," he told Agriland.
And what about the most popular item on the menu at Joe's restaurants? Of course, it's the Big Mac.
The first installment in the 'Behind the Big Mac' series in which Agriland visited a Kilkenny farm supplying beef for McDonald's can be viewed by clicking here.
