In ten European countries This popular McDonald's product contains milk from Carinthia

Anyone who stops by McDonald's on their next vacation in Greece and enjoys a dessert or milkshake is likely consuming a product from Klagenfurt. As the company confirms, Berglandmilch processes milk from around 200 Carinthian farmers at its factory in Klagenfurt for the fast food chain into milkshakes and soft serve ice creams such as McSundae and McFlurry, which are transported by refrigerated transport to the Peloponnese. The dairy company also supplies milk, butter, cream and yogurt to McDonald's.

“The cooperation has grown over the years,” says Georg Lehner, a member of Berglandmilch's management. According to the restaurant chain, this began in the late 1990s. The partnership was gradually expanded from Austria. Berglandmilch now supplies McDonald's restaurants in ten countries in Central and Southeastern Europe. These include Austria, Italy, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

By the way, special requirements apply to Carinthian farmers who supply milk to McFlurry and Co., which are more stringent than the legal framework in Austria. Among other things, only the local feed can be used. Palm oil, which can be an ingredient in compound feed, is not permitted. In addition, Berglandmilch has established guidelines with contract farms, which, as the fast food giant explained in a written statement, “ensure better health of the livestock.” This would make the cows older, increase the time needed to produce milk and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

4.1 million liters of milk

The Klagenfurt Berglandmilch plant employs 80 people and processes around 75 million liters of milk annually. For its Austrian restaurants alone, McDonald's buys about 4.1 million liters of milk from Berglandmilch every year for products such as ice cream and coffee.

George Lehner, Berglandmilch

© Berglandmilch/Coppel

Incidentally, the dairy company is not the only Austrian company that supplies McDonald's with regional foods. According to company spokesman Wilhelm Baldea, “about 70 percent of the raw materials used for the entire product range come from Austria.” The product range extends from beef to potatoes, milk and free-range eggs. The chain also sources goods from Machland Fruit and Canned Vegetables, Resch&Frisch, Haubis, Bonnevit Feinbäckerei, and others.