SAINT-GERMAINE-EN-LAYE, France – Cargill France and three poultry product suppliers, agreed to a three-year supply agreement with McDonald’s France that provides for a fixed purchase price for poultry used to make Chicken McNuggets.

The agreement is an effort by the companies to shield the poultry supply chain from market fluctuations, Cargill said. Cargill France, Boscher Poultry, LDC Group, and Gaévol breeders in partnership with Sanders signed the agreement in February. Stéphane Le Foll, French Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry was in attendance.

“Our intention is to not only develop a quantitative but also a qualitative partnership with the French farmers,” Nawfal Trabelsi, president of McDonald’s France, said in a statement. “[This] agreement constitutes a major commitment and provides farmers and the entire supply chain with a mutual visibility for several years.”

Cargill said demand for poultry products from McDonald’s France has more than doubled over the last four years. The agreement entails a per-year minimum of 9,100 tons of poultry. Cargill said the deal “allows fair distribution of value while adhering to the stringent specifications of McDonald’s…” Those specifications include 170 criteria for breeding, detailed animal welfare and environmental stewardship requirements and a commitment to ending the use of antibiotics by the end of 2017.

“When we built our factory in Orleans to manufacture McNuggets for McDonald’s restaurants more than 23 years ago, the breeders of Gaévol were already among our very first partners,” Samia Martel, a senior key account manager for Cargill in continental Europe, said in a statement. “Cargill Food France is proud to be part of this agreement because it illustrates the importance of the sustainable relationships that have been at the origin of the entire sector dedicated to McDonald’s France.”