As the world’s largest restaurant company, Yum! Brands has an outsized influence on global sustainability. With over 58,000 restaurants under iconic brands like KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger & Grill, Yum! Brands’ decisions on environmental impact, workforce development, and food sourcing have ripple effects across the food industry.
The company’s 2023 Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report demonstrates a bold commitment to “Good Growth,” which combines profitability with sustainability. However, while the report highlights significant progress, a deeper dive reveals areas where the company must push harder to live up to its ambitions.
Yum! Brands organizes its sustainability strategy around People, Food, and Planet. These focus areas address the most pressing challenges facing the company and its stakeholders—climate change, food safety, and employee empowerment.
Yum! Brands takes pride in its workforce of over one million employees, and the report shows notable progress in leadership development, diversity, and inclusion. In 2023, nearly 7,750 employees participated in leadership programs like Heartstyles and Coach Academy. The company has also made strides toward achieving gender parity, with women now representing 44% of corporate leadership.
Through initiatives like the Unlocking Opportunity Initiative (UOI), Yum! invested $71 million in community impact programs, reaching over 200,000 individuals globally. This focus on skill-building and job creation benefits employees and strengthens the franchisees that operate 98% of its restaurants. Yet, the report offers little detail on how franchisees—especially in markets with differing social and labor standards—are held accountable for supporting these initiatives. This area demands more transparency since franchisees are critical to Yum!’s global footprint.
As consumer demand shifts towards healthier, ethically sourced food, Yum! Brands has responded by setting ambitious goals for ingredient transparency and animal welfare. By 2023, the company had removed 95% of artificial colors, 91% of artificial flavors, and 97% of partially hydrogenated oils from core menu items, aligning with its clean-labeling goals. Taco Bell’s growing plant-based menu, featuring options like Vegan Crunchwraps, and the push for cage-free eggs across global markets are steps in the right direction.
However, the report falls short on specifics regarding the sustainability of its broader supply chain, especially in areas like beef and palm oil sourcing. While there is mention of partnering with dairy farmers to reduce emissions and eliminate deforestation-linked soy in Brazil, more details on how these efforts will be scaled globally are needed. Supply chains, especially in agricultural sectors, are notoriously complex. Without robust third-party verification and clear accountability structures, these well-intentioned goals risk falling flat in execution.
Yum! Brands is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46% across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 by 2030. In 2023, the company reported a 29% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 emissions, largely from company-owned restaurants. Significant efforts have been made to incorporate renewable energy, with solar panels installed at KFC and Taco Bell locations and renewable energy contracts for Pizza Hut in the U.K.
However, with 98% of its restaurants franchised, scaling these initiatives across the franchise network is critical. The report highlights successful franchisee efforts, like the Heart With Smart franchise group in the U.K., which has been using renewable energy since 2015. Still, details on how these practices are being replicated globally are limited. Moreover, the company’s efforts to reduce plastic packaging are acknowledged but lack the granular detail needed to assess the true impact of its 25 ongoing plastic reduction projects. The report also notes that only 20% of its consumer-facing packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable—leaving a considerable gap in its 2025 goal to eliminate unnecessary plastics.
A key strength of Yum! Brands’ sustainability framework is its governance structure. With board-level committees assigned to its three sustainability pillars (People, Food, and Planet), Yum! embeds sustainability into its corporate DNA. Regular reporting in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) further reinforces its commitment to transparency and accountability.
Yet, governance structures alone won’t be enough to drive real change. The report occasionally leans too heavily on global initiatives and certifications like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF), without providing clear examples of how Yum! is driving change within its operations. For instance, while Yum! supports the NYDF’s goal of eliminating deforestation by 2030, it provides limited insight into how the company is addressing deforestation risks in its complex global supply chain. These high-level commitments must be complemented by deeper, more actionable strategies that can be tracked and measured.
Yum! Brands’ 2023 Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report is a commendable effort showcasing its commitment to driving positive change across its operations. The focus on people, food, and the planet reflects a comprehensive vision for sustainable growth, and the governance structures in place suggest that the company is serious about accountability.
However, with significant challenges around franchisee engagement, supply chain accountability, and the scalability of environmental initiatives, Yum! must dig deeper and push harder to realize its bold vision. As the world’s largest restaurant company, Yum! Brands has a unique opportunity to lead the fast-food industry in sustainability. Whether it can truly live up to this leadership role will depend on its ability to set ambitious goals and execute them with precision across its global operations.
