McDonald's & Crust lose heart foundation ‘Tick’
Both QSRs participated in the Tick program since 2006 and 2008, respectively.
In response to the recent decision of the Heart Foundation to step away from offering the ‘Tick’ to food service operations, Crust Gourmet Pizza comments that the ‘Tick’ had become increasingly redundant for the business over the last few years with consumers becoming more educated about the availability of healthier, lower fat foods.
Prior to the Foundation’s decision today, Crust had already moved away from heavily promoting the Tick, believing that the mark had reached a point where it no longer had the same degree of resonance in the community as it once did.
Costa Anastasiadis, co-founder and Director of Crust Gourmet Pizza said, “We recognise the role the Tick played in the Australian community at the time, but Crust has always been about healthier, lower fat, yet consistently delicious, pizzas. Our consumers are already extremely knowledgeable about nutrition, and have been since we opened in 2001.
“Being the first pizza company to be awarded the Heart Foundation Tick on six of our pizzas in September 2008 certainly did help reinforce Crust’s premium offering, and our innovation within the pizza industry. It helped to show that there was a credible Australian alternative to the existing pizza chains, and that we provide an option for a super-high-end pizza that is healthy, low fat or even gluten free.”
“We wish the Heart Foundation well in its continued aim to reduce the impact of heart disease amongst the Australian population.”
Skye Oxenham, McDonald's spokesperson also commented on losing their Heart Foundation Tick.
She said, “Our five year participation in the Tick program was a great confirmation of the work we've done over the past decade to improve and expand our menu, which has included reducing salt and sugar content, changing to a healthier vegetable oil and transparent nutrition labelling.”
“We will continue to drive industry change with our progress. This will mean bringing even more choices to our menu, making further salt reductions and rolling out kilojoule labelling on menu boards nationally from November this year,” she added.
