McDonald's restaurants throughout New Zealand and Australia, source their onions locally, in the mighty Waikato and Franklin district to be exact. Ever since Aotearoa's very first McDonald's opened in Porirua in 1976, the company has supported New Zealand producers and businesses by locally sourcing as many of its ingredients as possible.
At this point in time, 89 per cent of the ingredients used at the McDonald's 170 restaurants nationwide – from the beef to the buns and right down to the beetroot – are farmed, grown or produced within New Zealand.
Since that first restaurant opened 45 years ago, McDonald's New Zealand has bought its onions from the same company, GSF Fresh!, and as the company has grown, so has their support of the nation’s onion farmers. Now GSF Fresh! contracts local farmers to grow about 225,000kg of brown and red onions each year, creating jobs for about 200 Kiwis.
Source: stuff.co.nz