It was explained that adopting a new variety to maintain the quality of McDonald's fries can take more than 10 years. The introduction of regenerative agriculture to prepare for environmental changes and efforts to recycle used frying oil from restaurants were also presented.
As weather patterns change and production costs rise around the stable supply of potatoes, McCain Foods is developing new varieties to preserve the fries' consistent taste, but explained that adopting a new variety involves a lengthy process. New varieties must meet requirements for environmental resilience and economic viability as well as quality, and are evaluated in stages, from resistance testing at farms to quality stability at factories and consumer testing.
The company is promoting regenerative agriculture with a view to the next 10 and 20 years, conducting trials centered on four areas: soil health, varietal improvement, efficient water use and biodiversity. On large-scale farms in the western United States and Canada, center-pivot irrigation is used, with AI and sensors optimizing water and fertilizer use.
To maintain potato quality, the company's policy is to transport potatoes to processing plants from fields within an 80–100 km radius. Of its 21 plants worldwide, the plant supplying Japan imports potatoes from North America.
The company is also working to recycle used frying oil, and McDonald's Company (Japan), Ltd.'s food recycling rate reached 72.4% in 2025. The waste oil is used mainly as animal feed and is not used for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).