Better Health for All
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Yum! Brands' core menu offerings have a net negative health effect, with 32% of meal options consistent with their lower calorie nutrition criteria in 2024, implying 68% are not.
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However, the company has removed 94% of artificial colors, 90% of artificial flavors, and 96% of partially hydrogenated oils from core food ingredients.
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The company demonstrates an outstanding safety record with no food safety-related recalls or confirmed foodborne illness outbreaks in 2024.
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It provides exceptional risk transparency by making nutrition profiles, allergens, and ingredient statements available online, offering nutrition calculators, and complying with all federal and local menu labeling regulations. For health externalities, Yum China converted approximately 5,700 tons of used cooking oil into biodiesel by the end of 2024.
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The company shows strong preventative health measures, with KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in the U.S. meeting commitments to remove antibiotics important to human medicine from their U.S. poultry supplies, and Taco Bell aiming to reduce antibiotics in its U.S. and Canada beef supply chain by 25% by 2025.
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In nutrition and food safety, alongside the strong safety record and ingredient removal, Taco Bell reduced sodium by 23% since 2008, and KFC China eliminated 118 tons of salt between 2018 and 2020.
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Yum! Brands also engages in comprehensive healthcare education, reaching over 140 million customers with nutritional knowledge on tray liners and generating over 17 million views on nutrition and health-related articles and videos.
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Yum China's "One Yuan Donation" program has funded over 58 million nutritious meals for children in underdeveloped regions by the end of 2024, and its KFC Food Banks extended to nearly 1,000 restaurants in over 150 cities.
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The company does not collect or manage health-related data.
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Yum! Brands Inc. is a quick-service restaurant company, not a financial institution. The provided articles describe various initiatives related to diversity, equity, and entrepreneurship, such as the $100 million Unlocking Opportunity Initiative
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, the $50 million Franchise Fast Start program to support underrepresented franchisees
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, and the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence which provides education on franchising
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. However, the rubric's KPIs for 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' are designed for financial services companies and require specific quantitative data points like percentages of loan books, customer credit outcomes, or profit reinvestment percentages. The available evidence, while demonstrating commitments and programs, does not provide the necessary metrics (e.g., share of loan book, measured wealth-building outcomes for a percentage of users, or annual pre-tax profit figures to calculate reinvestment percentages) to score any of the KPIs against the defined thresholds.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
-40
Yum! Brands reported a CEO to median employee pay ratio of 1440:1 in 2024.
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The voluntary turnover rate for restaurant employees at company-owned locations was 75% in both 2023 and 2024.
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In 2024, there were four confirmed incidences of employment violations related to discrimination.
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Additionally, wage and hour penalties occurred in 2023 and 2022, and workplace safety or health penalties occurred in 2022.
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As of December 31, 2024, approximately 14% of employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements.
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In the U.S., an annual statistical regression analysis for 2024 found no statistically significant variances in pay for any gender or ethnic group, considering job and performance factors.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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Yum! Brands mandates that all suppliers adhere to its Supplier Code of Conduct, which covers operational standards, ethics, and human rights.
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Violations of the Code may lead to disciplinary action or termination of the supplier relationship.
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In 2023, approximately 99% of the company's beef supply was sourced from regions with lower risk of tropical deforestation.
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KFC is implicated in a December 2023 class-action lawsuit alleging the use of "convict leasing" in Alabama, though the company's policies prohibit forced labor but do not bar all forms of prison labor.
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Yum! Brands partnered with Sedex in 2020 to assess supplier sites in higher-risk markets across labor standards, health and safety, business ethics, and environmental impact.
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In 2005, Taco Bell and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) agreed to increase wages and improve working conditions for Immokalee tomato workers, a program that expanded to KFC and Pizza Hut in 2006.
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Honest & Fair Business
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Yum! Brands provides a 24/7 anonymous Speak Up helpline, operated by an independent third party, with translation services available in nine languages
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and a non-retaliation policy for good faith reporters
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. The company has a comprehensive Global Code of Conduct
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and an International Anti-Corruption Policy
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, prohibiting both public and private corruption
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, with 100% of employees and the Board of Directors receiving annual anti-corruption training
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. Due diligence is required for agents and third parties interacting with government officials
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. Over 70% of approved suppliers achieved GFSI Recognized Certification by the end of 2023
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, and the company's GHG emissions and water withdrawals are subject to limited assurance
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. In 2023, Yum! Brands received one warning for noncompliance concerning product and service information and labeling, but no fine
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.
Kind to Animals
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Over 90% of egg volume for 25,000 restaurants was sourced from cage-free hens in 2023
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, with 92% of eggs in the U.S. being cage-free
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. KFC Western Europe, Pizza Hut U.K., and Taco Bell U.S. and Canada have fully transitioned to 100% cage-free eggs
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. The company has a Global Animal Welfare Policy
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and uses the Five Freedoms
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. KFC U.S. poultry is 100% certified as meeting the No Antibiotics Used Important to Human Medicine
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, and Pizza Hut met its goal of removing these antibiotics from U.S. chicken wings
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. Taco Bell aims to reduce antibiotics in its U.S. and Canada beef supply by 25% by 2025
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, achieving 15% reduction by 2021
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. However, as of 2021, gestation crates for pigs remained a concern
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, with a policy on group sow housing planned for publication in 2024
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. In 2024, the company joined TRANSFORM and a collective of 25 organizations to endorse Antimicrobial Use Stewardship Principles in poultry
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. It also engages with the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and the International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture
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, and supports the One Health initiative
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.
No War, No Weapons
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Yum! Brands, a quick-service restaurant company, has no reported revenue from arms or defense contracts, nor does it develop or sell dual-use technologies.
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Its business model does not require ethical red lines related to weapons, expose it to controversial weapons, or involve defense assets for divestment. The company requires suppliers to adhere to its Supplier Code of Conduct, which includes provisions for working hours, non-discrimination, child labor, and forced labor.
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It is a member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
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and the Fair Food Standards Council,
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with the Fair Food Program described as a leading example of worker-driven social responsibility with third-party oversight.
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Yum! Brands states its approach to human rights utilizes the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’ “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework,
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and its RSPO criteria align with UNGP principles 11 through 24.
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The company also reports in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative.
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Planet-Friendly Business
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Yum! Brands has SBTi-approved science-based targets from 2021
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to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46% by 2030 (compared to 2019), Scope 3 franchisee-owned restaurant energy emissions by 46% per restaurant by 2030, and Scope 3 supply chain emissions (beef, poultry, dairy, packaging) by 46% per metric ton by 2030.
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Progress against these targets includes a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions,
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a 30% reduction in Scope 3 franchisee-owned restaurant emissions per restaurant,
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and a 1% reduction in Scope 3 supply chain emissions per metric ton,
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all compared to the 2019 baseline. The company sources 13% of its operational energy from renewables.
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A global forest stewardship policy with "NO DEFORESTATION, NO PEAT AND NO EXPLOITATION (NDPE)" principles is in place.
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Implementation includes approximately 95% of palm oil supporting sustainable/deforestation-free supply chains,
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100% of Brazilian feed mills compliant with the Amazon Soy Moratorium,
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86% of beef sourced from lower-risk regions,
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and 72% of fiber from certified sources.
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The company discloses climate-related risks and opportunities through a TCFD report,
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with an assessment conducted in 2021 analyzing physical and regulatory risks.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
0
Yum! Brands has been associated with at least three cultural appropriation incidents, including the "Banh Shop" logo with a red star, previous issues with Taco Bell, and the use of a Día de los Muertos symbol in a restaurant logo.
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,
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The company has at least 12 formal partnership agreements with various organizations and community groups.
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,
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,
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Yum! Brands committed $100 million over five years through its Unlocking Opportunity Initiative, which completed its investment, and had invested over $75 million since 2020 in 38 community impact programs across 13 countries.
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,
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Based on a reported revenue of $7.5 billion, this represents approximately 0.27% of revenue reinvested in local community development.
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The company's Global Code of Conduct describes mechanisms for seeking advice and raising concerns.
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Yum! Brands engages in general charitable giving, such as the World Hunger Relief campaign which raised over $600 million, but does not specify donations to cultural heritage organizations.
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All above-restaurant, corporate employees completed annual compliance training, which includes a course on the Global Code of Conduct.
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Safe & Smart Tech
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In January 2023, Yum! Brands experienced a ransomware attack
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that resulted in the theft of sensitive personal information, including names, Social Security numbers, contact information, and identification numbers, belonging to former and current employees and applicants
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. This single incident of unauthorized data use led to the temporary closure of approximately 300 restaurants in the UK for one day
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, though no customer databases were compromised
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. The company promptly disclosed the breach
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, engaged cybersecurity experts
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, and enhanced its security measures
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. Following the incident, Yum! Brands faces multiple class action lawsuits from employees alleging privacy violations
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. The company operates under various data privacy regulations, including GDPR and CCPA
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, and has a risk-based cybersecurity management program overseen by its Board of Directors and Audit Committee, along with a formal data privacy management committee
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. Yum! Brands is also adopting AI technologies, with a rollout planned for 500 restaurants in Q2 2025
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, and external studies emphasize the need for ethical AI standards and data protection in such initiatives
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Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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Yum! Brands Inc. is in continued non-compliance with British Columbia's recycling regulations, confirmed by the ministry after an enforcement letter nine months prior, indicating a recurring issue.
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Globally, 27% of plastics used in the company's consumer packaging are considered widely recyclable, and at least 20% of consumer-facing plastic packaging was estimated to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable in 2023.
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The company achieved a 3% reduction in virgin plastic content from 89% in 2020 to 86% in 2023.
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Yum! Brands has implemented numerous waste reduction initiatives, including donating over 215 million pounds of food to charity partners since 1992.
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The Habit Burger Grill eliminated 288,000 lbs of plastic bags annually by switching to paper, and Pizza Hut in New Zealand and Australia are 95% and 90% plastic-free in consumer-facing packaging, respectively.
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Taco Bell operates a sauce packet recycling program in the U.S. and is adding recycling/composting bins where infrastructure permits.
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The company has set ambitious waste reduction targets, including a 50% reduction in food loss and waste by 2030 in U.S. restaurants, a 10% reduction in virgin plastic content by 2025, and a goal for all consumer-facing plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.
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It also aims to divert 50% of back-of-house operational waste in U.S. restaurants by 2025 and remove added PFAS, phthalates, and BPA from packaging by 2025.
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Circular design principles are integrated, with the company following redesign, reduce, reuse, and recycle principles, investing in circularity, and partnering with the NextGen Consortium.
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KFC has shifted from expanded polystyrene plastic to more recyclable or fiber-based containers for side items.
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For hazardous waste management, the company aims to remove added PFAS, phthalates, and BPA from packaging by 2025.
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Supplier waste requirements include a detailed policy for paper-based packaging sourcing, preferring third-party certified suppliers and requiring substantiation of claims.
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Customer waste education includes Pizza Hut using graphics on U.S. pizza boxes to remind customers to recycle.
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