Alanna Paschall

9/2/19
Max Hamburgers Case Study

1. What does MSC certified mean? Give some examples of MSC certified products. Have
you ever noticed any MSC certified products before? (Be sure to list the URL and name of the
website you use to answer this question.)

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sets standards for fisheries, and being MSC certified
means that the companies use fish caught from fisheries up to those standards. Some products
that are MSC certified include Birds Eye, John West, and Princes. I have heard of Birds Eye
produce but neither of the other brands listed. I read on MSC’s website that all the fish sold at
IKEA is MSC certified, and many other grocery stores such as Lidl sell mostly certified
products. I have never heard of MSC certification until reading about it during this research
project.
MSC homepage: https://www.msc.org/home

2. What does FSC certified mean? Give some examples of FSC certified products. Have you
ever noticed any FSC certified products before? (Be sure to list the URL and name of the website
you use to answer this question.)

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) awards a certification to forests that have met a certain
standard based on their criteria. If a forest receives the certification it means that they have met
appropriate environmental and social standards. All products made with wood from FSC
certified trees have a certain logo on them. Some companies that distribute FSC certified paper
are American Eagle Paper Mills, Appleton Coated, and BPM Inc. I have never heard about the
FSC certification before this project. I checked the paper that we buy from Staples and it is not
FSC certified and I think that’s interesting.

FSC homepage: https://us.fsc.org/en-us

3. How has Max Hamburger dealt with the unsustainable nature of beef production? Is their
beef more sustainable? How?

Beef is the top contributor of CO2 and overall emits nearly 70% of total CO2 each year. One of
the reasons for this is the transportation of beef to distributors. Max Hamburger makes a point to
only purchase local beef, meaning produced in Sweden, to cut down on transportation costs. Max
also reduced the amount of beef in their hamburgers, which lowered the CO2 impact of each
sandwich.

4. Explain, in your own words, how Max Hamburgers has met (or has not met) each of the 4
care principles of the Natural Step. Do you think that Max Hamburger’s methods for meeting the
4 care instructions are sustainable?
The Natural Step has 4 focuses: awareness, baseline analysis, compelling vision, and down to
action. I do believe that Max Hamburgers has met each of these 4 steps. The A stands for
awareness, and the Max Hamburgers company is aware of the largely negative impact of beef
production on the environment. They recognized that not many other fast food chains were doing
much about climate change and that their industry was a top contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions. The next part of the Natural Step is B, baseline analysis. This step is looking at where
the organization currently is and how their practices and activities are affecting the environment.
This step also involves evaluating products, energy, capital, and so on, and talks about how you
can change to be a more sustainable business. Max Hamburgers looked at their practices and
how unsustainable they really were and then made a plan to change it. The third step is C for a
compelling vision. Every great plan needs to start with a big idea. The compelling vision maps
out what you want your organization to do to make it more sustainable. Max Hamburgers
brainstormed how they could be a more sustainable company and what steps they would have to
take to get there. The last letter of the Natural Step is D, which stands for down to action. This
requires the company to map out how they need to change to be more sustainable. Max
Hamburgers made a chart that addressed all sustainability principles and what they would do to
make their business meet that principle. For example, they wanted all their fish to be MSC
certified and most of their paper products to be FSC certified. Max wanted to commit to 100%
wind energy, battery-less kids’ toys, and green company vehicles. Then they executed their
plans. Max Hamburgers started carbon labeling their menu, meaning that they would list how
much carbon was emitted to make each sandwich. They also used less cardboard and paper
products by removing the entire box from the kids’ meal and eliminated all battery powered toys
that came with the meal. I think that if every fast food restaurant did what Max Hamburgers did
to execute the Natural Step that it would lead to a more sustainable industry.

5. Do you think that seeing the carbon dioxide emitted or the amount of energy used to make a
hamburger at the point of purchase would change your choices when you go to a restaurant?

I think that it would change my decision if there was a huge difference between two different
sandwiches. I’m not sure if a small difference between CO2 emissions will change my mind
about a hamburger if that’s what I always get. I guess it depends on if the option that emits the
least amount of CO2 is something I want to eat. I know that’s kinda sad but it’s hard to realize
how much of a difference your choice would make.

6. Max Hamburger is based in Sweden. Do you think that their practices would work if
imported to the United States and applied to fast food chains?

I feel like their sustainable practices would work the same for fast food chains in the United
States. It seems relatively simple to remove battery-operated toys from kids’ meals and cut down
on the use of cardboard and paper products. Buying beef locally would be a better idea for both
the company and the environment because it would be cheaper and would boost the local
economy. It would probably be difficult to get some fast food chains on board with the idea of
radically changing their practices but I do think it would be effective in making the fast food
industry more sustainable if we could implement all these changes.

7. Do you know any American companies that are using these types of sustainability labels to
promote their products? If so, please list them and provide a link that gives additional
information.

I do know that Patagonia is a very sustainable company, and it was one of the top-rated B
Corporation that I researched. I had to do some research for other American companies with a
green agenda but I was able to find some that I’ve heard of. McCormick and Co. is a company
that sells spices and other seasonings. Pretty much all of the spices in my cabinet are
McCormick. This company has a vision to reduce large amounts of their waste production by
2025. Another company that I recognized is the technology business HP. According to the
website I found they were the first company to publish their full carbon and water footprint,
which is a huge step. They also have sustainability goals to reach by 2025. Other leading
companies that focus on sustainability are Ecolab Inc; Analog Devices, Inc; and Cisco Systems,
Inc.

https://wfan.radio.com/blogs/companies-conscience-americas-top-5-sustainable-businesses