WEBVTT - McDonald's Giving Happy Meal Toys a Makeover

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio to Bloomberg Green,

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<v Speaker 1>reporting last month that there is some thirty five trillion

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<v Speaker 1>dollars invested in sustainability globally, Tim, not surprising now given

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<v Speaker 1>the movement that we've seen from investors and from companies

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<v Speaker 1>that want to make sure, hey, this is where our

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<v Speaker 1>clientele is going. Yeah, And speaking of companies that are

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<v Speaker 1>focusing on sustainability, that includes McDonald's and McDonald's Corporations Chief

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<v Speaker 1>sustainability officer Jenny McCulloch joining us on the phone in Chicago. Jenny,

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<v Speaker 1>great to have you here with Tim and myself. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you hi, Carol, Hi, Tim, It's great to be here.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for having me on the show today. Well, tell

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<v Speaker 1>us about your latest announcement when it comes to we've

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<v Speaker 1>been talking a little bit about happy Meals. You guys

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<v Speaker 1>have made um a sustainable move when it comes to them. Absolutely,

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<v Speaker 1>we've got a lot underway here and sustainability on our

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<v Speaker 1>food and on our restaurants and communities. But today it's

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<v Speaker 1>all about points and the special fund that the Happy

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<v Speaker 1>Meal experience brings to families around the world. We announced

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<v Speaker 1>today that by the end of will be drastically reducing

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<v Speaker 1>plastics across our Happy Maal toys around the world and

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<v Speaker 1>transitioning to more sustainable materials. So we're really excited about

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<v Speaker 1>this news and look forward to talking about that. So

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's a few years off. Why does it take

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<v Speaker 1>so long to make a transition like that, Well, when

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<v Speaker 1>we think about the scale of McDonald's, were operating in

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<v Speaker 1>nearly forty thousand communities and over a hundred countries around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. So when we think about innovation, we have

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<v Speaker 1>to you know, really lean with our suppire partners on

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<v Speaker 1>markets that are really willing to test and lead and

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<v Speaker 1>take those first steps, and then think about what we

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<v Speaker 1>can learn from our customers and families and what we

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<v Speaker 1>can scale later. So what we're doing here is building

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<v Speaker 1>on some really great momentum that we've seen in France,

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<v Speaker 1>the UK and Ireland where these more sustainable toys have

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<v Speaker 1>been being rolled out since and we're working on roadmap

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<v Speaker 1>to scale those to other markets around the world and

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<v Speaker 1>we may even see some of those in the portfolio

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<v Speaker 1>as soon as it's winter or the US. I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's so cool, Jenny, I do what I love talking

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<v Speaker 1>about companies like you, really big companies who can move

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<v Speaker 1>the needle on things, especially when it comes to the

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<v Speaker 1>supply chain. Is that part of the problem that it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to Tim's point, I'm always like, why can't we

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<v Speaker 1>just do it now? Why can't we do it in

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<v Speaker 1>a year and a half or two years? Is it

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<v Speaker 1>because the existing infrastructure, supply chains, what have you, they

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<v Speaker 1>just don't quite exist yet. Well, I would say that

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<v Speaker 1>when we think about innovation at scale, we do need

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<v Speaker 1>to try different things and and get feedback from customers

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<v Speaker 1>and kids about what works and what doesn't. So part

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<v Speaker 1>of that is is just a typical sort of prototype

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<v Speaker 1>feedback cycles that you'd expect. Um. When we also think

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<v Speaker 1>about the happy male experience, we are so focused on

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<v Speaker 1>the safety and sturdiness of those experiences for the toys

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<v Speaker 1>because we know that that safety is such an important

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<v Speaker 1>part of the happy male experience for our families. So

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<v Speaker 1>we want to be very mindful as we make changes

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<v Speaker 1>to the design of the toy. But that being said,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we have the privilege to work with some

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<v Speaker 1>of the world class piers around the world in this

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<v Speaker 1>area and have amazing designers, scientists, engineers, toy innovators, play experts,

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<v Speaker 1>all thinking about where we can make changes and and

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<v Speaker 1>we have seen some really exciting ideas that can be scaled.

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<v Speaker 1>And so when we think about, you know, the commercial

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<v Speaker 1>design of a toy from start to finish, it does

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<v Speaker 1>take quite a while anyway, and so to make these

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<v Speaker 1>changes is just part of that longer term innovation process

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<v Speaker 1>for us. So what are what's an example of a

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<v Speaker 1>sustainable toy or a more sustainable toy. What's it made

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<v Speaker 1>out of and what does it look like? Sure, so

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<v Speaker 1>the materials when we think about what we're considering more

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<v Speaker 1>sustainable materials as part of the goal, is anything that's

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<v Speaker 1>made from renewable, recycled, or certified materials. So that could

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<v Speaker 1>be certified sustainable fiber, such as in a puzzle or

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<v Speaker 1>you know, build it yourself dinosaur craft construction project um

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<v Speaker 1>or it could be from recycled plastic or plant based

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<v Speaker 1>plastic that you might see from sugarcane or or soybean

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<v Speaker 1>that gets mixed and derived into more rigid, hard plastic toys.

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<v Speaker 1>So some of the toys that our customers are enjoying

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<v Speaker 1>today might be made from plants in the future and

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<v Speaker 1>they may not even know the difference in the actual

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<v Speaker 1>soy experience. Um, but we we are looking at sort

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<v Speaker 1>of both those changes to the toy design as well

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<v Speaker 1>as reimagining of classic favorites that just use more innovative materials.

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<v Speaker 1>Plant based is making us think about the food that

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<v Speaker 1>you guys sak exactly. Yeah, that's that's exactly what I

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<v Speaker 1>think about, Jenny, when I when I hear about sustainability

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<v Speaker 1>and think about beef and meat, my mind doesn't necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>go to toys and plastic toys. It goes to the

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<v Speaker 1>impact that cattle have on the environment, from methane to deforestation.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm wondering, as chief sustainability officer at McDonald's, how

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<v Speaker 1>you think about those challenges. Well, we think about those

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<v Speaker 1>challenges very much in concert with what where we have

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<v Speaker 1>responsibilities across all of our our offerings for our customers,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've been on a journey with our food sourcing

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<v Speaker 1>and our packaging sourcing or over a decade looking at

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<v Speaker 1>our sourcing regions where we can promote more sustainable practices

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<v Speaker 1>with our supplier partners, and you touched on it with

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<v Speaker 1>the comments around beef. We have prioritized work on the

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<v Speaker 1>sustainability with supply chain partners and NGOs and farmers and

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<v Speaker 1>ranchers for many, many years. We just wrapped up a

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<v Speaker 1>series of commitments leading into where we'd really worked with

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<v Speaker 1>the industry to articulate a vision for what more sustainable

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<v Speaker 1>beef production could mean, how we could eliminate deforestation and

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<v Speaker 1>high risk regions for beef sourcing and other commodities as well,

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<v Speaker 1>and also how we can promote and support best practices

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<v Speaker 1>among farmers who are really pioneering more innovative regenerative practices

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<v Speaker 1>on their farms and ranches and help support scaling those

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<v Speaker 1>practices across the industry with our supplier partners. So while

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<v Speaker 1>the announcement today is it's very much around toys and

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<v Speaker 1>the fun of the happy meal, we've we've been at

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<v Speaker 1>at work for quite some time looking at the sustainability

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<v Speaker 1>of the food and this is just, you know, one

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<v Speaker 1>more our step in a long line of commitments that

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<v Speaker 1>we continue to work on and we'll keep working on

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<v Speaker 1>if we look for well, really cool to check in

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<v Speaker 1>with you, Jenny, and I hope we can get you back.

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<v Speaker 1>Jenny McCulloch, she's chief sustainability officer at McDonald's joining us

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<v Speaker 1>on the phone from Chicago. I mean you've got to

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<v Speaker 1>approach it from like a lot of different angles. Yeah. Never,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't even consider the happy Not really. No, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't either, um right, because we don't focus on it.

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<v Speaker 1>But they sell a lot of them, and if you

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<v Speaker 1>think about it, that makes sense. Kids will know no, no, exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, you're listening to Boomberg Radio.