Yum! Brands Receives Industry-Leading Recognition Through CDP Ranking and Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America Inclusion

Jan 6, 2023 10:00 AM ET
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In December 2022, Yum! achieved several sustainability honors, earning an A- in Water Security and a B in all other categories from CDP, a global organization that runs a leading disclosure system. The company also made the 2022 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America, marking its sixth consecutive year on the list that ranks companies based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria. Plus, Newsweek named Yum! as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies 2023, and earlier in the year, 3BL Media recognized the business as one of its 100 Best Corporate Citizens of 2022.

All of this occurred during the company’s 25th anniversary year. For over half of that time, Yum! has been sharing progress around its sustainability journey by reporting to CDP. Since 2010, when Yum! first disclosed through the organization, Yum! has evolved its citizenship and sustainability work, also referred to as its Recipe for Good. The Recipe for Good focuses on the three priority areas of people, food and planet, and believes that regular and transparent disclosure is key to tracking and measuring progress across the Yum! system.

Yum!’s CDP performance continues to lead the quick-service restaurant industry. The company’s reporting scope to CDP has expanded over the years, with Yum! first responding to CDP Climate Change, which tracks opportunities to lower carbon emissions and gauges climate resiliency. Now, the company discloses on CDP Forests, which covers how Yum! uses or sources cattle products, palm oil, soy and timber, as well as Water Security, which addresses the capacity to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water.

“Our Recipe for Good is a continuous journey as we make progress across citizenship and sustainability at Yum! and our four iconic brands of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and The Habit Burger Grill,” said Yum! Chief Sustainability Officer & Vice President of Global Government Affairs Jon Hixson. “Yum!’s industry-leading recognition and scoring across notable disclosures like CDP and DJSI reflect a systemwide commitment and investment in this space.”

To learn more about Yum!’s Recipe for Good and the efforts that contribute to the company’s performance, such as investing $100 million over five years to fight inequality, upholding an industry-leading food safety program and driving towards science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nearly 50% by 2030, visit Yum.com/citizenship or view the company’s ESG Library.