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Fruit processor named McDonald's U.S. Supplier of the Year

August 9, 2013

Shelby, Mich.-based Peterson Farms Inc. has been named McDonald's USA Supplier of the Year.

The fruit processor supplies McDonald's restaurants nationwide with fruits including apples, blueberries and cherries used in menu items such as apple slices, fruit and yogurt parfaits, McCafe Smoothies and Fruit & Maple Oatmeal.

"We are all very proud and honored to receive this award from McDonald's," Peterson Farms Chairman Earl Peterson said in a statement. "We have had a strong, positive relationship with McDonald's for more than a decade and we look forward to growing that relationship in the coming years."

Peterson Farms collaborates with other fruit suppliers to cut costs and develop more efficient processes for McDonald's. Peterson was a leader in McDonald's recent statewide initiative, From Michigan for Michigan, to raise awareness of McDonald's purchases in Michigan and its impact on the state's economy.

Peterson Farms has been a supplier to McDonald's since 2001, when the company became a blueberry supplier for McDonald's USA and Canada.

In 2004 Peterson Farms became a supplier of the newly launched Apple Dippers and received the McDonald's Teamwork Award. In the next year the company began supplying cherries, blueberries, sliced apples and grapes for McDonald's Fruit 'n' Walnut Salad, winning them a second McDonald's Teamwork Award.

In 2010 and 2011, Peterson Farms began producing blueberry purees for McCafe Smoothies and cherry purees for McDonald's Cherry Berry Chiller.

"Those of us in the McDonald's family all know that it is no simple task to become a supplier to one of the world's largest restaurant organizations, and Peterson Farms has stood out as the best in the country," said Pancho Gonazalez, vice president and general manager of McDonald's Michigan region.

Peterson Farms Inc. is the largest privately owned fruit processor in Michigan. The company processes fruits from more than 500 U.S. and Canadian farms.

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