DUBLIN, OHIO – The Wendy’s Co. announced the release of its 2021 Corporate Responsibility report. The report outlines the company’s progress under its Good Done Right platform, focusing on food, people and footprint. Also in the report is Wendy’s announcement of the newly formalized Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) goals, as well as its progress on climate and sustainable packaging goals. The report also shares the board of directors’ decision to tie executive compensation to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance, with a portion of company executives’ 2022 incentive compensation linked to Wendy’s achievements against its food, people and footprint goals.

“Advancing our Good Done Right goals is a team effort, and I’m incredibly proud of the progress we made in 2021,” said Liliana Esposito, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer. “We continue to work to meet the high expectations our stakeholders have for Wendy’s through cross-functional collaboration across our system, which includes employees, franchisees, suppliers and industry partners.”

Highlights from 2021 included in the report are:

• Food: Defining responsible sourcing goal focus areas and investing further in food safety and quality innovation. Wendy’s evaluated the environmental and social impacts associated with the top 10 priority food categories, validating each of the categories’ inclusion on the priority list, and defined key metrics to measure the progress of responsibly sourcing its top 10 priority food categories in the United States and Canada by 2030. Wendy’s also launched its enhanced global Food Safety Assessment program in partnership with EcoSure, a division of Ecolab, and tested new augmented reality technologies to further enhance its Quality Assurance program. 

• People: Formalizing DEI goals and continuing work to find forever homes for children in foster care. Wendy’s established an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, led by the Company’s vice president, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, and solidified five areas the company will focus on in the coming years. Wendy’s aims to increase the representation of underrepresented populations among leadership and management, as well as the diversity of franchisees. The Wendy’s System also raised more than $22.5 million for its signature cause, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which helps fund adoption professionals who are dedicated to finding loving, permanent homes for children waiting in foster care. 

• Footprint: Increasing cup recyclability, consumer recycling education and climate transparency. Wendy’s collaborated with packaging and plastics industry leaders to move from plastic-lined paper cups with limited recyclability to single-substrate, clear plastic drink cups that more customers will be able to recycle as part of the company’s goal to sustainably source 100% of its customer-facing packaging in the United States and Canada by 2026. Wendy’s also joined the How2Recycle label program in the United States and Canada to educate consumers by adopting the organization’s on-package label, which provides information on the proper ways to dispose of and recycle packaging. For the first time, Wendy’s reported 2020 Climate data to CDP, a leading disclosure practice for environmental reporting, receiving a B score on the submission, an important step as the Company prepares to set a science-based target to track and reduce emissions in its operations and supply chain and to disclose Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions in 2023 in alignment with that target.