Burger Chain Says, "Eat Less Meat"

American-style burger outlets run into resistance in Sweden, where the Max Burger has been pleasing Scandinavian palates for over forty years. They just can’t compete with the higher quality fare served up by the family-owned chain.

So why would a burger joint that consistently outperforms competitors advise its customers to stop eating so many burgers? According to the Harvard Business Review, the company wanted a healthier menu as far back as 2000. They cut back on salt, sugar and fat, added healthier breads and turned to local producers for all of their beef and chicken and 90% of the rest of the food they serve.

Their next move was to to turn to The Natural Step to assess how they could run a more sustainable operation. One of the answers was to cut back on beef (see The Methane Makers).

So they did, by adding more options such as chicken, fish and veggie burgers and by posting the carbon footprint of every item on the menu. They made other environmentally-friendly choices as well, such as shifting to wind energy to power their restaurants, installing LED lighting and switching to more environmentally-friendly company vehicles.

Still, it’s the decision to cut back on beef that has attracted the most attention. After all, in its native land, the company is called Max Hamburger. If there are other hamburger chains whose Web sites feature a broadcast encouraging people to “Eat less meat”, I haven’t heard of them. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Sir Paul McCartney himself promoted the “climate declaration-labelled hamburger” before the European Union Parliament in December 2009.

The Max philosophy is on the company’s Web site: “We are part of the problem and therefor [sic] want to be part of the solution.” With profit margins averaging 11 to 15 percent, the fast food chain is proving there really can be profit in shifting to a greener operation.

Related Care2 Stories:

EWG Tackles Meat, Cheese and the Environment

Former McDonald’s Execs Open Healthy Fast-Food Chain

Drop the Burger (And Its Wrapper)

Read more: fast food, healthy food, real food, restaurant chain

Photo from chichacha via Flickr Creative Commons

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Agustin H.

8:40PM PDT on Apr 15, 2012

thanks

send a green star

Malgorzata Z.

11:37AM PDT on Apr 15, 2012

też nie jem żadnych burgerów

Patricia G.

6:23AM PDT on Apr 15, 2012

Thanks for the article.

New G.

6:53PM PDT on Apr 14, 2012

Thank you for the information.

Elizabeth O.

12:41PM PDT on Apr 14, 2012

Voted: 'yes!'

Joe R.

6:26AM PDT on Apr 14, 2012

A move in the right direction. Healthful fast food would be great - I don't eat what is available today in the US.

Valerie A.

4:09AM PDT on Apr 14, 2012

Thanks

Vera C.

10:54AM PDT on Apr 13, 2012

Very good ideas and a good example: everyone should learn to try and solve the problems they are part of the cause of, instead of denying them.

10:30AM PDT on Apr 13, 2012

nie jem burgerów żadnych

Debra V.

8:39AM PDT on Apr 9, 2012

What a wonderful company! Wish those in this country would do the same, but not holding my breath waiting for that to ever happen. I have to say, I don't miss meat at all. I don't eat meat substitutes either. Becoming a vegetarian was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I just wish I had done so years ago.