The Company achieved key responsible sourcing and climate milestones and, with a focus on diversity, increased access to franchising opportunities

The Wendy’s Company released its 2022 Corporate Responsibility report, detailing significant progress against the three key pillars of the Company’s Good Done Right ESG strategy: Food, People and Footprint. The report reflects milestones on Wendy’s journey to drive positive change, including achieving a 10-year goal related to responsibly sourcing pork in the U.S. and Canada, nearly doubling new, approved franchise candidates entering the Wendy’s System through the Company’s new franchise recruiting initiative, Own Your Opportunity, which aims to increase accessibility and diversity among franchisee candidates, and setting new goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“After establishing our corporate responsibility goals and laying a strong foundation in prior years, we are now taking significant steps forward in delivering on our commitments across Food, People and Footprint,” said Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer Liliana Esposito. “I am proud of the collective efforts of our team, stakeholders and franchisees as we prepare the brand for accelerated global growth while working toward a more sustainable Wendy’s.”

See related article: Wendy’s Strengthens Commitment to Climate Action, Targeting Ambitious Emissions Cuts

The report demonstrates progress against the Company’s Good Done Right goals and includes the following highlights.

• Food – Advancing responsible sourcing goal and achieving an animal welfare commitment:
  • Identified approximately 140 suppliers in scope for the responsible sourcing program, established criteria used to measure progress and enlisted a technology partner to aid in assessing supplier performance.
  • Evaluated about 30 suppliers spanning 90 facilities through the Animal Care Standards Program to benchmark performance and identify trends and areas for improvement in support of Wendy’s goal to achieve a comprehensive accounting of animal welfare best practices for beef, pork, chicken, eggs and dairy by 2024. 
  • Achieved Wendy’s 10-year goal to transition the Company’s pork supply chain in the U.S. and Canada away from sow gestation stalls to open pen or group housing for confirmed pregnant sows. 
• People – Creating more inclusive workplaces and communities:
  • Nearly doubled new, approved franchise candidates entering the Wendy’s System, compared to the prior year through the Company’s new franchise recruiting initiative, Own Your Opportunity. The initiative aims to increase accessibility and diversity among franchisee candidates, including women and people of color.
  • Broke in-restaurant fundraising records, collecting more than $8.2 million through Boo! Books sales to support the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption^® (DTFA), which celebrated its 30th year of helping find forever families for children in foster care. To date, the Wendy’s System has raised nearly $300 million to support the DTFA.
  • Created a new Employee Resource Group, GiveCare, to provide support and resources for parents and caregivers and to offer a space for employees to share their experiences.
• Footprint – Reaching key milestones in sustainable packaging and mitigating Wendy’s climate impact:
  • Set aggressive science-based targets nearly a year ahead of schedule, validated by the Science Based Target initiative, to reduce Scope 1, 2 and targeted Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 47% by 2030 across the global System.
  • Surpassed the halfway mark on Wendy’s goal to sustainably source 100% of customer-facing packaging by 2026 following the rollout of clear plastic drink cups more customers can recycle. 
  • Expanded efforts to reduce energy consumption and increase renewable energy procurement, introducing Global Next Gen, the brand’s new restaurant design standard, which is approximately 10% more energy efficient than the Company’s most efficient existing restaurant design, and subscribing to Duke Energy Florida’s Clean Energy Connection pilot program, which supplies select Company restaurants with solar energy.

Last year the Company announced a portion of executives’ 2022 incentive compensation would be linked to progress made against its Good Done Right goals. The Company has now extended this incentive to all bonus-eligible restaurant support employees.

Wendy’s recognizes leading reporting industry standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and strives to embed their principles and frameworks throughout the Company’s report.