More often than not, the only time we
hear from fast-food restaurants is when they are making some groundbreaking announcement about their food safety procedures or their supply chain. In general, neither are a welcome message for consumers or producers alike.
However Wendy’s, the pro-ginger burger chain, is different than Subway, Panera and Chipotle – all of which have made headline-generating statements about their food supply. Wendy’s actually
supports agriculture and wants to work together with farmers and ranchers to market delicious, safe and healthy food.
5 reasons why farmers and ranchers should support Wendy’s:
Wendy’s wants to Work WITH Beef Producers – not take away important technologies like antibiotics. In a press conference at Cattle Industry Convention, [reported on by BEEF Magazine], Wendy’s spokesperson Liliana Esposito said the chain wants to collaborate with producers to refine, reduce and replace antibiotics but they respect that when an animal is sick, it NEEDS treatment. Esposito added, “The best beef comes from healthy well-cared for animals. A sick animal needs to be treated and you won’t hear differently from us.”
Their Marketing Doesn’t Suck (cough, Chipotle) – Liliana Esposito said during the press conference in San Diego that Wendy’s will not make any headline-generating statements about antibiotics. This comes as a relief because it seems these days that restaurants are relying on ground-breaking announcements, rather than quality, to sell food. Removing animals that have been treated for sickness from the supply chain is not a food safety panacea; neither is removing GMOs from a supply chain. Safe, healthy food comes from using quality, fresh ingredients and state-of-the-art food safety procedures and technologies.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD A BACONATOR?! – It’s a straight-up, life-changing, heavenly creation of multiple protein sources. I didn’t have one until about eight months ago and I was immediately sorry for not eating one sooner. The sandwich represents dairy, beef and pork producers – a triple-whammy! Did I mention it was freaking delicious? I think it may be on the menu this weekend during my roadtrip.
Consumers Can Still Get a Good Deal – Unlike other restaurants which have altered their dollar menu to basically only contain children’s food, Wendy’s “Right Price, Right Size” menu boasts items such as a small fry, jr. cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, crispy chicken sandwich and small drink – all for under $1. If you’re looking for something quick and tasty on the go, for not much moolah,
you can definitely find a few things at Wendy’s! When I was a young college kiddo, Wendy’s was a cheap lunch I could eat on the go between nursery hours (that’s a plant nursery, not a kid nursery), rodeo practice and classes.
BONUS REASON – Wendy’s is on fire with their social media, which is a fact I erroneously left out in the earlier draft of this post. Suffice it to say, they’ve got some smart whips on their social management team.
Example 1: this Twitter “beef” between Wendy’s and Burger King.
Example 2: My friend Kelly Rivard, who blogs at Country Nights, City Lights, sent them a letter about the Baconator and the need for a smaller Baconator and they actually replied back with their own uniquely awesome response.
This, my friends, is how you do social. Wendy’s FTW!
I know there are other chains out there that are very supportive of farmers and ranchers such as Domino’s and Culver’s. What others are there? As agriculture stakeholders and producers, we should be giving all of our attention to these establishments which are committed to working with, not against, producers.
Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~
Comments
10 responses to “5 Reasons Why Farmers Should Support Wendy’s”
This is great! I heart Wendy's…now even more than before! 🙂
I know, right? It's like kismet – I was meant to eat Baconators and Frosty's and they were meant to support American agriculture!
How refreshing to hear from a company that looks at improving the big picture long term instead of capitalizing on the latest single issue marketing bomb. Wendy's is affecting real long term improvement. I'd write more, but I am off to buy a Baconator
Have a frosty too!
Kelly is so flipping creative!
Yes she absolutely is!
They are not so nice to pork producers, having announced a couple years ago to source only from farms not using gestation stalls. Certainly better than Chipotle, but not as good as Culver's or Domino's.
Sorry you feel that way, Wynn. However, I think the pork industry needs to realize that gestation crates are on the way out for good. If I was a pork producer I would find a way to work with scientists and retailers to find solutions outside of gestation crates instead of waiting around for more and more restaurants to say "no" to them. Just my two cents – I appreciate you reading and commenting. 🙂
Great post!
Thank you and thank you for reading!