Wendy’s will focus on responsible sourcing, sustainable packaging, greenhouse gas reduction and increasing diversity within its leadership, management, and franchisees
DUBLIN, Ohio, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, The Wendy’s Company (Nasdaq: WEN) released its 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report detailing the progress made across its three key focus areas of Food, People and Footprint. Within the report, Wendy’s® shared the outcomes of its recent materiality assessment of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) topics, along with several new goals relevant to Wendy’s Good Done Right platform and strategy.
“Everything we do revolves around our vision of becoming the world’s most thriving and beloved restaurant brand,” said Wendy’s President and CEO Todd Penegor. “Throughout 2020, our teams remained focused on taking care of our customers and the Wendy’s family while making a positive, lasting difference in the broader communities we serve. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made against our Good Done Right strategy and excited about the new goals we’re sharing publicly today.”
For the first time, Wendy’s is recognizing leading reporting standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and those frameworks can be found in the matrices table at the end of the report. Wendy’s is also sharing how its material impacts align with the globally recognized UN Sustainable Development Goals. Later this year, Wendy’s will also report to the CDP for Climate for the first time.
“Wendy’s is committed to transparency throughout our corporate responsibility journey,” said Wendy’s Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer Liliana Esposito. “That’s why we are communicating and benchmarking our progress against globally recognized reporting frameworks, such as SASB and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We will continue to drive momentum on material topics and will regularly report our progress.”
As further described in the 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report, Wendy’s new goals include:
- Food: Responsibly source Wendy’s top 10 priority food categories by 2030. Building on the Company’s long-standing work to responsibly source its ingredients, Wendy’s is now formalizing its approach by developing environmental and social criteria, which are informed by a lifecycle assessment of priority food categories, Wendy’s Animal Care Standards Program, a human rights risk assessment and through collaboration with key supply chain partners. These criteria are intended to allow Wendy’s to assess current status, set new targets and demonstrate progress and transparency through ongoing reporting. The top 10 priority food categories, determined by spend and impact, include products such as beef, chicken, pork, dairy, eggs, produce and beverages.
- People: Increase the representation of underrepresented populations among Company leadership and management, as well as the diversity of Wendy’s franchisees. Specific areas of focus include increasing representation of those who identify as female and persons of color, as well as driving an inclusive mindset and culture at all levels of the organization.
- Footprint:
- Sustainably source 100% of customer-facing packaging by 2026. To accomplish this goal, over the next five years, Wendy’s will optimize customer-facing packaging and transition to sustainable options including items that: have higher recycled content; use fewer raw materials; adhere to an established restricted substances list; are recyclable, compostable or reusable; and are sourced from areas that do not contribute to deforestation.
- Benchmark, track and reduce Wendy’s Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set a science-based target by the end of 2023.
Further highlights and the full 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report can be found here. Additional information, including detail about the evolution of Wendy’s Good Done Right platform and strategy, the goal-setting process and a look ahead, can be found on Wendy’s blog.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain statements that are not historical facts, including statements regarding the Company’s corporate responsibility goals and Good Done Right platform and strategy. Those statements, as well as statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “will,” “may,” “believes,” “intends,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” or similar expressions, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”). The forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s expectations at the time, speak only as of the dates they are made and are susceptible to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, the factors identified in the “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Projections” and “Risk Factors” sections of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For all forward-looking statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act.
About Wendy’s
Wendy’s® was founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas in Columbus, Ohio. Dave built his business on the premise, “Quality is our Recipe®,” which remains the guidepost of the Wendy’s system. Wendy’s is best known for its made-to-order square hamburgers, using fresh, never frozen beef*, freshly-prepared salads, and other signature items like chili, baked potatoes and the Frosty® dessert. The Wendy’s Company is committed to doing the right thing and making a positive difference in the lives of others. This is most visible through the Company’s support of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption® and its signature Wendy’s Wonderful Kids® program, which seeks to find a loving, forever home for every child waiting to be adopted from the North American foster care system. Today, Wendy’s and its franchisees employ hundreds of thousands of people across more than 6,800 restaurants worldwide with a vision of becoming the world’s most thriving and beloved restaurant brand. For details on franchising, connect with us at www.wendys.com/franchising.
Visit www.wendys.com and www.squaredealblog.com for more information and connect with us on Twitter and Instagram using @wendys, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wendys.
*Fresh beef available in the contiguous U.S., Alaska, and Canada.