The Wendy's Company
WEN US Equity US95058W1009
Key Information
HQ:
United States
Market Cap:
$3.74bn
Primary Market:
North America
Company Information
Company Summary
The Wendy's Company and its subsidiaries are owners and franchisers of fast-food chain Wendy's restaurant in the USA. Virtually all operations are in USA and Canada.
Revenue
Revenue by Geography
Revenue by Segment
Antibiotics Stewardship Engagement
Analysis Overview
Scope of Policy Policy Implementation Investor Engagement
Analysis Breakdown
Scope of Policy
12/16
Does the company have a policy on antibiotics stewardship?
Wendy's has an antibiotics policy that is publicly available on their website.
4/4
Does it cover animal-derived protein sources across all relevant species?
The company has extended its scope to include beef, pork and chicken. However, it does not cover fish and seafood.
3/4
Does it cover animal-derived protein sources across all operations?
Although the company states that their policy covers all beef, pork and chicken served in their restaurants, it is unclear whether this means all relevant operating and sourcing markets are covered. In the case of chicken and beef, the company's commitments appear to relate to their main operating market, which is the U.S.
2/4
How strong is the company's commitment?
Wendy's has stated that their long-term goal is to "phase out the routine use of medically important antibiotics on the farms that our suppliers' source from". However, their current beef commitment only covers 15% of all sourced beef and targets the reduction of only one antibiotic by 20%.
3/4
Policy Implementation
9/18
Does the policy commit to specific targets or timelines for all species?
Wendy's achieved it commitment to eliminate all antibiotics important to human medicine from its U.S. chicken production in 2017. For beef, it has committed to quantifying antibiotics use and to source 15% of its beef from a progressive group of producers that have each committed to a 20% reduction of the only medically important antibiotic routinely fed to their cattle. This began in 2018, but no details have been provided to indicate when this commitment is expected to be achieved by. For pork, the company states that all their pork suppliers are "Pork Quality Assurance Plus program certified, which requires judicious use of antibiotics under the care of a veterinarian". This does not translate into a clear time-bound target in line with its broader commitment to phase out the routine use of medically important antibiotics. Therefore, we have scored Wendy's based on their commitments for chicken and beef.
3/5
Does the company disclose quantity of antibiotics used?
The company states that they are committed to quantifying antibiotics use within its beef supply chain, and work has begun. However, no further information was found and/ or disclosed.
1/7
Does the company commit to and/ or carries out third-party auditing and monitoring?
Wendy's states that responsible antibiotics use is part of their established Animal Welfare Audits, which requires suppliers to be audited at least twice annually. This includes one internal and the other being a third party audits and covers only U.S. and Canadian suppliers.
In their response to FAIRR, Wendy's stated that third-party audits via the USDA Process Verified Programs are required. This cover chicken only. For beef, the company states that live cattle are subject to the Beef Alliance-approved independent auditing bodies i.e. IMI Global and TCFA which includes antibiotics use. For pork, it is unclear whether third-party audits in addition to internal audits are carried out to verify supplier compliance on antibiotics use.
5/6
Investor Engagement
3/4
Did the company respond to investor letter?
Wendy's responded to the investor letter providing insightful answers to all questions. The company has not met with the investor coalition. Their response is available here.
3/4
Members-only Content
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Workstream Information
2019 Score:
24/38
Last Updated:
20 May 2019
2019 Resources
Phase 3 | Progress Report Antibiotics Stewardship Engagement
Meat Sourcing Engagement
Analysis Breakdown
Board oversight
Is the board briefed by management on the company’s strategies for mitigating environmental risks associated with their meat and dairy supply chains on at least an annual basis?
The board receives briefs on risk mitigation relating to ESG matters, including sustainable sourcing and meat and dairy supply chains. Wendy's priortises sustainable sourcing, including specific aspects including food quality, water use, climate risk, and animal welfare. The board receives updates from the CSR committee on these topics regularly.
*No change
Yes
Have company representatives presented to the Board on physical/transition risks from climate change impacts on commodity sourcing?
The board receives briefings on how to manage climate impacts on operations. Sustainable sourcing is managed by the CSR committee which presents its work to the board.
*No change
Yes
Supplier policy
Does the company have a publicly-available supplier policy that addresses the climate, deforestation, water use and quality impacts of its commodity suppliers?
The supplier policy address water use impacts and defoerestation to some extent, as well as other climate concerns. However, this aspect of the policy only applies to suppliers with active sustainability initiatives and is not a requirement for all suppliers to address.
*No change
Partial
Does the company have a supplier monitoring and verification system that ensures that direct and indirect suppliers meet the company’s environmental requirements?
While Wendy's expects suppliers to conduct audits/inspections, it does not have a clear system in place for monitoring environmental requirements. Their monitoring of suppliers' compliance does not have a consistent schedule or any specific attention to environmental concerns.
*No change
Partial
Does the policy include a non-compliance protocol that specifies specific criteria (e.g. violation of no-deforestation pledge or major pollution incidents) that would trigger the suspension or termination of contracts and facilitates development of time-bound action plans for suppliers to return to compliance?
Wendy's does have a non-compliance protocol but does not mention specific examples of what would trigger the suspension of a contract. It appears that Wendy's creates programs for suppliers to return to compliance but once again does not specify how this program works or what would trigger it to be implemented.
*No change
Partial
Does the policy specify that suppliers address all major emissions sources, including those related to land use change and deforestation, enteric emissions from animals, and emissions from manure and chemical fertilisers?
Suppliers with existing sustainability initiatives are encouraged to address emissions, but this encouragement does not extend to all suppliers. There is no requirement for this in the supplier policy. GHG emissions are identified by Wendy's as a key indicator for responsibly-sourced protein and produce but there is not a policy for suppliers regarding this at this point. Therefore partial is awarded for expectations on some suppliers but not all.
*No change
Partial
Does the policy ask direct suppliers to measure, report and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their direct operations and agricultural supply chains?
While Wendy's completed a Scope 3 assessment, they did not require suppliers to disclose and reduce emissions. Suppliers with existing work on sustainability are encouraged to address emissions but this does not extend to all suppliers. Therefore partial is awarded for expectation of some suppliers to document and address GHG emissions.
*Upgrade from DNF to Partial
Partial
Does the policy specify that direct and indirect suppliers address all major sources of water pollution and waste in the animal protein supply chain, including slaughtering and processing activities, animal production (CAFOs), and feed production?
Wendy's asks suppliers with existing sustainability initiatives to consider water usage, and has joined the CRSB which has a focus on riparian helath and reducing the water footprint of beef, as well as handling waste. However, this work does not translate clearly to the supplier policy at this point.
*No change
Partial
Does the policy encourage suppliers to set science-based and/or context-based targets on water?
While the company's 2019 CSR included slightly more detail about programmes for certain suppliers to reduce water impacts, there is no policy that asks suppliers to do this.
*Downgrade from Partial to DNF
No
Does the policy ask direct suppliers to measure, reduce (beyond regulatory compliance levels) and report on the water quantity and quality impacts of their direct operations and agricultural supply chains?
No information about suppliers being encouraged to set SBTs is available in the supplier policy or other publicly-available documentation reviewed.
*No change
No
Does the company have a time-bound, quantifiable zero deforestation/conversion-free policy that covers the entire supply chain for soy, cattle and palm commodities?
Wendy's sources 100% RSPO-certified palm oil. Deforestation is a relevant issue to Wendy's plan to responsibly source beef, but there is no specific policy regarding this issue. No policy is publicly available for soy commodities.
*No change
Partial
Targets
Has the company set a time-bound, quantitative reduction target for Scope 1 + Scope 2 GHG emissions?
Wendy's plans to submit a Scope1 and 2 target for SBTi certification by the end of 2023 but has not yet released the target.
*No change
Partial
Has the company set a time-bound, quantitative emissions reduction target that explicitly address Scope 3 emissions?
Wendy's plans to submit a Scope 3 target for SBTi certification by the end of 2023 but has not yet released the target.
*No change
Partial
Has the company set time-bound quantitative targets to reduce water use in direct operations?
Wendy's has set a goal of reducing water use in company restaurants and its support centre by 20% by 2029 and outperformed this goal in 2021.
*No change
Yes
Has the company set time-bound quantitative targets to reduce water quality impacts in direct operations?
The company offers no disclosure on water quality impacts targets.
*New category
No
Has the company set time-bound quantitative targets that explicitly address water use and quality impacts in the supply chain?
No mention of time-bound quantitative targets to address water use and quality impacts in the supply chain can be found in Wendy's Supplier Policy, CSR, or other publicly-available information which has been reviewed.
*No change
No
Risk assessment/Scenario analysis
Has the company committed to undertaking and publishing a scenario analysis in line with TCFD recommendations?
No evidence of commitment to TCFD-aligned scenario analysis is found in Wendy's CSR or other publicly-available documentation reviewed.
*No change
No
Has the company conducted a water risk assessment across its direct operations?
Wendy's has completed a water risk assessment of its owned and franchised restaurants.
*No change
Yes
Has the company conducted a water risk assessment of suppliers & major commodities?
Wendy's has disclosed that it is in the process of developing a responsible sourcing programme which includes deepening supplier engagement and launching a data collection process to evaluate baseline performance against ingredient-specific metrics, one of which is water.
*Upgrade from DNF to Planned
Partial
Members-only Content
To register as a member of the FAIRR network, please fill out the sign up form or if you need additional information on the FAIRR network, please contact investoroutreach@fairr.org.
Workstream Information
Last Updated:
14 June 2022
2022 Resources
Phase 3 | Progress Briefing Report Meat Sourcing Engagement