The Wendy's Company

Wendy's provides a high-level disclosure of its key purchased proteins in its 2024 Corporate Responsibility (CR) report, where it lists its ‘10 Priority Food Categories’. These include the proteins beef, pork, chicken, dairy, and eggs. Seafood is not included in this, however, the company appears to have limited exposure to this protein, offering a seasonal panko fish sandwich made from wild-caught Alaskan pollock.

Wendy’s has an ‘Antibiotics Use Policy’ that sets targets to phase out the routine use of Medically Important Antibiotics (MIA) in its US and Canadian beef, pork, and chicken supply by the end of 2030. This policy’s target is in line with recommendations 1, 2, & 3 of the WHO Guidelines on the Use of Medically Important Antimicrobials in Food-Producing Animals but does not extend to recommendations 4a and 4b. The company has not disclosed evidence of an antibiotic policy for dairy or eggs.

The Antibiotic Use Policy applies exclusively to US and Canadian supply chains and covers both company-owned and franchised restaurants. These two markets constitute the majority of Wendy’s footprint—estimated to be over 90% of restaurants globally. The company has not disclosed plans to expand the policy beyond these regions.

Wendy’s continues to disclose in its 2024 CR report that it has achieved its goal of eliminating the routine use of MIA from its chicken supply in the US. The company does not provide evidence that it is tracking antibiotic use outside of this and does not provide any quantitative data. The company has not specified a time-bound target for disclosing its current antibiotic use in its Canadian chicken supply. The company does not currently disclose its antibiotic use in its global supply of beef, pork, egg layers, or dairy. Previously, the company disclosed a time-bound commitment to map and report on the use of MIA in its beef and pork supply chains within the US and Canada by the end of 2024. This goal is no longer visible. The company has not yet reported on its antibiotic use but now states that the work it has carried out has expanded its visibility over the use of medically important antibiotics within its supply chain and has supported its efforts to reduce antibiotic use over time in its beef and pork supply chains. In its 2023 reporting, Wendy’s stated that this work has informed new pathways towards its target in the future, providing an example of how it saw a 40% reduction in antibiotic use from one supplier due to changes made at the finishing level that removed the use of the antibiotic Tylosin (a critically important antibiotic). The company highlights that progress in its beef and pork supply chains is challenging and that trials are underway through the International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA), but more progress is needed. The company does not appear to be a member of ICASA. The company has not disclosed any commitments to report or map its antibiotic use in its egg or dairy supply.

The company previously confirmed on its website that its US chicken supply is audited by the USDA as part of its Process Verified Program. There is no evidence of auditing (internal or third-party) for beef, pork, eggs, dairy, or chicken outside the US.

In its 2017 supplier code of conduct, the company states that it expects suppliers to comply with its animal welfare policies and audit processes and discloses a general non-compliance protocol. It is unclear whether antibiotics are specifically included in this. Since the targets to eliminate the use of MIA in the company’s beef, pork and chicken supply within the US and Canada are for 2030, it is unclear whether the company would address non-compliance before this date. No disclosure is provided regarding the percentage of suppliers that are currently in compliance with the company’s antibiotic use policy for its US and Canadian beef and pork supply or for its Canadian chicken supply. Antibiotic use in its US broiler supply is audited by the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) but the company does not directly report on the suppliers’ levels of compliance. Since there is no antibiotic use policy for the company’s egg layers or dairy herd, the levels of compliance cannot be measured.

As part of its ‘Antibiotic Use Policy’, Wendy's disclosed a time-bound target that by the end of 2030, 100% of its US and Canadian beef, chicken and pork will be sourced from suppliers that prohibit the routine use of medically important antibiotics. This target remains unaltered, and the company has not disclosed a target for the use of antibiotics within its egg layers or dairy herds.

In its ‘Antibiotic Use Policy’, the company stipulates that its targets for beef, pork and chicken only cover its US and Canadian supply chains which in 2024 represented around 88% of its restaurant footprint.

In its 2024 CR report, the company continues to disclose that it has achieved its target of eliminating all medically important antibiotics from its US chicken supply. It has not yet publicly disclosed its current progress toward its targets for eliminating the routine use of MIA in its chicken supply in Canada or its pork and beef supply in the US and Canada. In its 2024 CR report, the company highlights that further progress is needed to better understand antibiotic use in its beef and pork supply chains. Specifically for beef, Wendy’s states that since 2020, nearly a third of its beef supply has come from producers who made a commitment to at least a 20% reduction in the use of the most common medically important antibiotic used in fed cattle; however, it does not provide more specific information on this.