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  • Minions to be back in McDonalds Happy Meals

    Minions to be back in McDonalds Happy Meals

    Those tiny, frantic yellow creatures, the Minions, conquered the world with a smile, a wave, and their trademark unintelligible chatter as supporting characters in the first Despicable Me (2010).

    When they returned in 2013 for Despicable Me 2, they won over more fans and then invaded McDonalds Happy Meals with a vengeance in a merchandising move that had fans scrambling to collect the pocket-sized figures.

    And now that they’re starring in their own movie out this July, we can confirm that the Minions will be back in McDonalds Happy Meals very soon.

    We’ve gotten a sneak peek at our frantic friends; the set of 10 comes in different characters, each with its own unique features. And since the film, a prequel of sorts, chronicles their lives B.G. (before Gru, of Despicable Me fame), the toys reflect Minions in their various states throughout pop culture history, having served masters like the T-Rex, Napoleon, and Dracula.

    Here are all 10 Minions toys below:

    Minion Vampire

    Pushing the little knob at the back makes the closed-mouth Minion reveal his fangs, drawing up his arms to scare you away.

    Guard Minion

    We predict this will be one of the most popular Minion toys – winding him up, you’ll be able to watch him a few steps, still holding his banana.

    Marching Minion Soldier

    Not to be confused with the Guard Minion. Pushing down on top of this gentleman’s head will cause him to move his arms and eyes, looking for an adversary.

    Martial Arts Minion

    This Minion comes with a spinning bottom half – which turns really fast with one flick.

    Egyptian Hula Minion

    This Minion comes with a detachable hula hoop. Attaching it to his side and pressing a button on top of its head will make the hoop move faster around him.

    Minion Caveman

    Movable arms, with a perpetual alarmed expression, holding – what else – a Minion delicacy, the banana.

    They used to be better known as a collective wall of yellow capsule-like creatures, but as they grew in popularity, audiences got to know Minions’ different looks (one eye, or two? Tall, or stout?) and personalities.

    The new movie focuses on Stuart, Kevin, and Bob, who set out and ultimately land at a villain convention in search of a new master to serve after the Minions unwittingly kill off their previous masters. Here are the designs featuring Stuart (one-eyed, rather mischevious), Kevin (tall, responsible and determined), and Bob (tiny, stout, and the baby of the family).

    Groovy Stuart

    Watch him dance by shuffling his feet from side to side. We all know there’s nothing Minions love more than an impromptu dance party, and Groovy Stuart is no exception.

    Guitar-strumming Stuart

    Perhaps to accompany Groovy Stuart, this guitar-strumming version actually sings when you push the guitar just a little bit downwards.

    Lava-shooting Kevin

    When you hit a switch, Kevin’s lava gun glows bright red. The best part – his self-assured little grin.

    Chatting Bob

    We may not be sure exactly what the Minions are saying in their secret language, but this chatty Bob, which talks at the push of a button, is a bona fide cutie.

    How to get them early

    For those who would like to get all 10 in one go, the preorder option has been made available.

    Here’s how, directly from the press release provided by McDonalds Philippines:

    • Visit any McDonald’s store from June 15-20.
    • Pre-order the complete Minions Happy Meal set in the front counter of a McDonald’s store.
    • For P949, each pre-ordered Minions Happy Meal set includes a Claim Stub Set for all 10 Minions Happy Meal toys and 10 Happy Meal food stubs, which may be used upon purchase or until August 19.
    • The complete Minions Happy Meal set may be redeemed at any McDonald’s store starting June 25 – before the Minions toys are available individually in store.
  • Burger giant McDonald’s to end deforestation in supply chain

    Burger giant McDonald’s to end deforestation in supply chain

    Global fast food giant McDonald’s Corporation has pledged to end deforestation caused by production of commodities in its supply chain, focusing on beef, coffee, palm oil, poultry and packaging.

    A US-based scientific advocacy group welcomed the pledge, saying it was the first by a global fast food chain covering its whole supply chain and would push the industry to set new environmental standards.

    McDonald’s promised on Tuesday not to buy from suppliers that clear primary forest and other areas with high conservation value, as well as peatlands.

    It also said human rights must be respected and conflicts over land use resolved through a balanced and transparent process.

    The multinational company said it would begin developing specific time-bound targets for the raw materials it sources this year and would help smallholders, farmers, plantation owners and suppliers to comply with its commitment.

    “Making this pledge is the right thing to do for our company, the planet and the communities in which our supply chain operates,” said Francesca DeBiase, senior vice president of McDonald’s worldwide supply chain and sustainability.

    Like many other international food, cosmetics and commodity giants, the company — famous for its burger restaurants — has come under pressure from activists to make its business environmentally and socially sustainable.

    The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a US-based advocacy group, said the pledge made McDonald’s the first global fast food chain to promise to eliminate deforestation from its worldwide supply chain, going well beyond the palm oil commitments made by competitors.

    “The sheer scale of McDonald’s commitment includes significant potential for change, pushing the industry to implement new environmental standards across the board and ultimately reducing climate emissions,” said UCS analyst Lael Goodman. “However, the commitment is still a work in progress.”

    UCS urged McDonald’s to set strong, time-bound goals for individual commodities, and to follow through on the ground.

    David McLaughlin, WWF’s vice president of sustainable food, said success would require the expansion of monitoring and compliance efforts by McDonald’s and its suppliers.

    “We hope that this commitment will inspire other companies to take action,” he added in a statement.

    A 2015 scorecard produced by UCS, ranking pledges by top US brands on deforestation-free palm oil, shows that fast food firms have lagged behind packaged food and personal care companies.

    UCS’s Goodman said the McDonald’s commitment had the potential to create a “new normal” whereby fast food brands demand deforestation-free commodities from their suppliers.

    McDonald’s said it had begun addressing deforestation in 1989 when it stopped sourcing beef from the Amazon rainforest.

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  • McDonald’s supplier fined for pollution in China

    McDonald’s supplier fined for pollution in China

    A Chinese joint venture of U.S.-based J.R. Simplot, which supplies frozen french fries to McDonald’s, was fined 3.92 million yuan ($632,370) on Wednesday by the Beijing city government for water pollution, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

    The Beijing government found the venture had been discharging contaminated waste water that exceeded stipulated levels, according to Xinhua.

    Xinhua said the business was a joint venture between Simplot, a unit of McDonald’s, and a local firm. Reuters could not independently verify the relationship.

    Phone calls to Simplot in China were left unanswered.

    Simplot, headquartered in Idaho, is a global potato supplier for McDonald’s.

    “Simplot has assured us that they have implemented a corrective action plan, and we will continue to hold them accountable for implementation and enhanced procedures for compliance,” McDonald’s said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding it took the infraction “very seriously.”The fine comes as China is strengthening its environmental regulations as public anger builds over worsening pollution.

    China will ban water-polluting paper mills, oil refineries, pesticide producers and other industrial plants by the end of 2016, as it moves to tackle severe pollution of the water supply which has left one-third of China’s major river basins and 60 percent of its underground water contaminated.

    Chinese sales at McDonald’s and Yum Brands’s KFC slumped last year after one of their suppliers, Shanghai Husi Food, was forced to suspend operations after an undercover Chinese media report showed workers using out-of-date meat and doctoring production dates.

    U.S-based meat supplier OSI Group is the parent company of Shanghai Husi.

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  • McDonald’s India expands McCafe

    McDonald’s India expands McCafe

    McDonald’s India has opened three McCafés in Bengaluru.

    Westlife Development, owner of the Master Franchisee of McDonald’s in India, Hardcastle Restaurants, said the McCafes were the first in South India.

    Smita Jatia, MD of Hardcastle Restaurants, said Bengaluru has great significance as a coffee hub and there is tremendous potential for growth there.

    “With the launch of McCafe, we will strengthen our beverage strategy and build our restaurants as a one stop destination for all customers to enjoy across all ‘day parts’.

    Smita Jatia, Managing director, Hardcastle restaurants Pvt Ltd at the Launch of McCafe in Bengaluru

    *Smita Jatia, Managing director, Hardcastle restaurants Pvt Ltd at the Launch of McCafe in Bengaluru

    The store-in-store format enables a quick roll-out of a McCafé with an investment of Rs 30-35 lakhs per outlet across key trading areas in metro cities of West & South India to make it easily accessible to our consumers.”

    Jatia said within the last 18 months McDonald’s India has expanded the McCafé network across 41 restaurants in six cities – Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Pune and now Bengaluru.

    “Today, we are well on track as per the stated goal to launch 75-150 McCafé over the next three to five years, a clear testament to the fact that our coffees, frappes and muffins have been very well accepted by customers.”

    The expansion of the McCafé brand and its product offering is part of the company’s goal to elevate its coffee portfolio and to become India’s favourite destination for good food and quality beverages.

    McCafe counter at McDonald's outlet at JP Nagar,Bangalore (2)

    “We believe that we will be able to delight customers in Bengaluru too with our freshly brewed aromatic coffees,” said Jatia.

    McCafé uses 100 per cent Arabica coffee beans brewed by professionally trained baristas and sourced from sustainable farms in Chikmangalur, India.

    McDonald’s India first opened a McCafe in October 2013. Hardcastle Restaurants, which operates McDonald’s in west and south India, recognised an unmet need, for existing and new customers, in the rapidly growing Indian specialty coffee segment.

    McCafé was created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993, and has since spread worldwide, with the first in the US opening in Chicago, Illinois, in May 2001. Today, McCafés can be found in Costa Rica, Japan, Paraguay, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, Canada, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UK, amongst other countries.

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