Operations

Yum Brands releases annual Citizenship & Sustainability Report

iStock Photo

July 21, 2022

Yum Brands has released its Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report, highlighting the Company's strategic investments in socially responsible growth, risk management and stewardship of its people, food and impact on the planet, according to a press release.

"We delivered strong business results in 2021, which is a testament to our Recipe for Growth & Good, demonstrating that focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is not incidental to growth, but an enabler of it," David Gibbs, Yum Brands CEO, said in the release. "We continue to actively embed ESG considerations into our business strategy and adopt responsible business practices because it's the right thing to do and fuels results."

Yum's achievements included announcing science-based targets (SBTs) and launching key programs targeting reductions in its restaurants and supply chain, publishing a harmonized packaging policy across all four of its brands, and a first-of-its-kind education and research center to unlock opportunities in franchising for underrepresented people of color and women.

"Over the last year, we've deepened our capabilities and commitment to advance progress on our climate, sustainable packaging and equity and inclusion priorities," Jerilan Greene, Yum Brands ESG council chair, chief communications and public affairs officer and chairman and CEO of the Yum Foundation, said in the release. "We believe that our continued investment in our Recipe for Good strategy is essential to building a more resilient business in partnership with our employees, franchisees and suppliers."

Highlights from Yum's latest Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report include:

People

• Awarded more than $50 million in funding to almost 30 social impact programs across nine countries through Yum's global Unlocking Opportunity Initiative, a five-year $100 million commitment to tackle inequality through equity and inclusion, education and entrepreneurship for employees, front-line restaurant teams and communities around the world.
• In 2022, launched the Yum! Franchise Accelerator, a one-of-a-kind MBA elective opportunity supporting underrepresented people of color and women interested in the franchise restaurant industry, as part of the Yum! Franchise Center for Excellence, which was established in 2021.
• Continued on path to achieve gender parity in leadership roles by 2030, in alignment with Paradigm for Parity, with 42% of global leadership roles held by women in 2021.

Food

• Conducted more than 578,400 restaurant food safety audits since 2016.
• Continued to introduce relevant and distinctive plant-based offerings through partnership with Beyond Meat.
• Pledged to transition to 100% cage-free eggs across at least 25,000 restaurants by 2026, including the U.S., Western Europe and other markets, across all brands for all menu items and ingredients.
• Launched a new chicken welfare platform at KFC Global to further strengthen its animal welfare practices around poultry, with the U.S. market publishing a report sharing its progress against key 2021 key welfare indicators.
• Made progress against Taco Bell's goal to reduce antibiotics important to human health in its U.S. and Canada beef supply chain by publishing a Beef Policy and reporting that approximately 15% of its raw beef supply is procured from reduced antibiotic sources.

Planet

• Announced SBTs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nearly 50% by 2030 and set an ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Building on Yum's SBTs, joined the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition, an emissions reduction training program for suppliers of beef, poultry and dairy in the U.S. and Canada.
• Entered a two-year partnership between KFC U.K. & Ireland and the University of Liverpool's Zero Carbon Research Institute (ZCRI) in which ZCRI researchers are examining KFC U.K. & Ireland restaurants to identify ways to become a net-zero business by 2040 and a circular, zero-waste business in food, packaging and materials by 2035.
• Committed to move all consumer-facing plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 across all brands as part of the new harmonized packaging policy.

Yum Brands operates KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, with more than 54,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries and territories.