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Yum! is best known for its RED (relevant, easy and distinctive) brands – KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill – but recent accolades in the sustainability space might make consumers see it as green.
This month, CDP, a global organization that runs a leading sustainability disclosure system, released its rankings, and Yum!’s Climate Change score improved to an A-, and the company matched its previous Water Security score with an A-. All of Yum!’s CDP scores, including its Forest assessment, achieved scores of a B or higher.
The company also made the S&P Global’s Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America list for the seventh consecutive year and was selected for the S&P’s Sustainability Yearbook, which aims to distinguish companies that have demonstrated strengths in corporate sustainability. In December, Newsweek named Yum! as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies 2024, giving it the lead spot among restaurant companies.
“I’m proud that Yum! continues to be recognized by CDP and others for the continuous improvements in our sustainability agenda,” said Yum! Chief Sustainability Officer & Vice President of Global Government Affairs Jon Hixson. “This recognition reflects the great work of the team and leaders within our global system who drive results in an ever-evolving space.”
Yum!’s citizenship and sustainability efforts are guided by the business’s Recipe for Good Growth strategy, which focuses on its people, food and planet. Central to Yum!’s planet pillar is its climate goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its restaurant and supply chain by nearly 50% by 2030. Since having near-term science-based targets (SBTs) approved in 2021, Yum! and its brands have taken a multipronged approach by identifying opportunities with restaurants and suppliers. This includes investing in renewables and energy efficiencies in restaurants and establishing key pilots to support responsible agricultural practices for core proteins of beef, dairy and poultry.
Yum! is also updating governance structures to oversee process and data across the organization to comply with new laws, like the European Union’s Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products (EUDR) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Likewise, the company is actively working to assess its impact on biodiversity, which includes conducting a biodiversity risk assessment and evaluating the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) guidance among other disclosures.
To learn more about Yum!’s citizenship and sustainability efforts and continued reporting journey, visit yum.com.
