The food retailer will switch teas brands in its 1,200 UK outlets to Rainforest Alliance-certified PG Tips, a fairtrade brand owned by Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever. Tata Tea, which owns Tetley, has lost the contract.
The change comes after McDonald's switched its supply of coffee to Rainforest Alliance products in January last year, which has since seen sales rise by 22 per cent.
McDonald's expects to sell 24 million cups of tea in the UK over the next 12 months and will continue to charge from 80p per cup.
Unilever, which has trumpeted its 'green' credentials with products such as Ben & Jerry's fairtrade ice cream, claims to have swallowed the cost of supplying more expensive environmentally friendly products itself.
McDonald's has made several effort over the past couple of months to shed its reputation as an environmentally unfriendly retailer and has also fought to shift its reputation as a retailer of unhealthy products, switching to free range eggs, organic milk, and reducing salt in its food.
The ethical goods market in the UK is small but growing fast. Last year companies sold £4.8 billion of "ethical" food and drink, up 17 per cent on 2006.
Earlier this month the fast food giant said it was to extend its controversial trial of stocking Innocent smoothies to promote healthier food stuffs to kids.
Last May, the trial of the Strawberries, Blackberries and Raspberries smoothie for kids began in restaurants throughout Yorkshire and the North-East of England.
The trial of the smoothies, as well as new look fruit bag of grapes and pear, Tropicana Go, Cucumber Sticks and Garlic Bread Fingers, will be extended in the North-East and possibly further South over the course of the year.
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