Danish Crown has opened a new factory in Vejen that will produce beef patties for McDonald’s restaurants in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
The plant was officially inaugurated this week, DR reports. Patties made in southern Jutland will supply restaurants in Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Production previously took place in Sweden.
DR had earlier reported that Danish Crown entered the agreement with McDonald’s and was increasing hiring as a result. The contract between the slaughterhouse group and the fast food chain runs for ten years.
McDonald’s Denmark’s managing director, Mads Friis, described the deal as very large. Per DR, it is the chain’s biggest agreement with a local producer in the past five to ten years.
Factory manager Erik Kjær Møller would not disclose how many patties the plant will make each year. He said an evening shift will be introduced in the autumn. With production then running from early morning to late evening, output can exceed one million patties a day.
According to Møller, the factory must be able to meet McDonald’s needs into the future. Capacity is being built with that in mind, he told DR.
100 new jobs in Vejen and Holsted
The new production has created 100 jobs, according to Danish Crown. Thirty of them are at the Vejen factory. The other 70 are at a slaughterhouse in Holsted, where employees debone the beef used for the patties.
Friis said the move to a Danish producer matters for the company. McDonald’s is an international business, but its stated aim in Denmark is to be the Danes’ McDonald’s, he told DR. Sourcing the beef from a Danish producer is part of that, according to him.
He also said the change will affect the brand in Denmark. Per Friis, customers will have more trust in the chain and be convinced that the patties contain 100 percent beef.
Regional outlet TV Syd has also covered the project. As reported by TV Syd, the Vejen factory will supply burger patties to McDonald’s restaurants in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
The Vejen facility is McDonald’s first and only Danish factory producing beef patties. Patties in a cheeseburger or a Big Mac bought in Denmark are now made there, according to DR.
