Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy’s restaurant with an unwavering commitment to serve fresh food, at a fair price, in a comfortable atmosphere. He founded Wendy’s on the premise that Quality Is Our Recipe®, and the quality our customers expect from every restaurant visit begins long before products and ingredients reach the kitchen.
More than 50 years later, we remain committed to the values Dave taught us, and we believe that doing the right thing – for our people, our customers and our planet – is the only responsible way to do business.
We take pride in the freshly prepared food we serve—and the traceable, responsible practices that make it possible.
Respect, equality and fair treatment for our team members, franchisees and partners is a central part of our business. And so is giving something back.
Squarely Sustainable™, a nod to Wendy’s signature square hamburger, is our four-pronged approach to sustainability and reducing our environmental footprint.
Our corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts are now under one united banner called Good Done Right. These efforts include strengthening existing initiatives and launching new ones to enhance our approach to Food, People and our Footprint.
Read more in our 2019 CSR Report.
You've heard us say we're all about serving up better food. Here's how we actually do it.
In 2017, we expanded the Wendy's Supplier Code of Conduct to include additional assurances and requirements related to human rights and labor practices due in part to the nature of agricultural work, its workforce, and an evaluation of various risks factors. Beginning in 2017, we now require third party reviews related to the human rights and labor practices for suppliers of certain hand-harvested, whole, fresh produce such as tomatoes, lettuce and berries. We will continue to evaluate these reviews and these practices may be expanded in the future as necessary based on evolving standards and risks.
Since 2015, we've been a member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and have started reporting our progress through the RSPO's Annual Communication of Progress as well as the World Wildlife Fund Buyers Scorecard. We are tracking towards sourcing only Certified Sustainable Palm Oil as an ingredient in our U.S. and Canadian products and as a cooking oil internationally. Progress continues on this journey, and while we're a minor user of this oil, we understand the interest and have made a commitment to only source CSPO in North American products by 2022 and we will be announcing a plan for our international restaurants in late 2017.
In 2017, we achieved our goal of elimination of the use of all antibiotics in chicken that are important to human medicine. We also have announced plans related to a reduction in antibiotic use in our beef and pork supply.
We have long partnered with innovators and leaders throughout the beef industry to advance responsible practices in animal production, health and welfare. In 2016, we joined the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef to have an active voice in discussions about the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the U.S. Beef industry. We are a participant in the ongoing discussions to create accountability throughout the U.S. beef value chain and anticipate reporting our progress as the Roundtable establishes programs and standards.
In 2012, we established a goal to work with our U.S. and Canadian pork suppliers to eliminate the use of sow gestation stalls by 2022. We continue to make progress on this goal and are closely watching industry and production trends.
Because of one adoption, a child was given the love and support to pursue his dream of starting an old-fashioned hamburger restaurant. His name was Dave Thomas, our founder. That's why Wendy's has helped thousands of children find safe and loving families, so they can pursue their dreams just like Dave. When you visit Wendy's, you are supporting our charity, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Dave's charity works hard every day to match kids waiting in foster care with parents waiting for kids. Adoptions happen through an amazing program called Wendy's Wonderful Kids. We believe every child deserves a loving, permanent family and to date, Wendy's Wonderful Kids has made that dream come true for more than 6,000 kids. Together, we can make this dream a reality for every child, so they will have what Dave had - a place to call home.
In January 2016, we joined the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Building Challenge. Among the first restaurant companies to join this challenge, we committed to reduce energy consumption in our U.S. company-owned locations by 20 percent by 2025. To broaden this commitment, we launched the Wendy's Energy Challenge, encouraging franchisees in the U.S. and Canada to lower the energy use in their restaurants. As of mid-2017 approximately 20 franchisees have joined the Wendy's Energy Challenge, representing more than 1,400 restaurants. In our company-owned restaurants, we've lowered energy use per transaction by 12 percent in 2016 against a 2013 baseline. The approximately 500 franchise restaurants that reported data in 2016 have saved enough energy to power 540 U.S. homes for a year.
In 2017, we expanded the Wendy's Supplier Code of Conduct to include additional assurances and requirements related to human rights and labor practices due in part to the nature of agricultural work, its workforce, and an evaluation of various risks factors. Beginning in 2017, we now require third party reviews related to the human rights and labor practices for suppliers of certain hand-harvested, whole, fresh produce such as tomatoes, lettuce and berries. We will continue to evaluate these reviews and these practices may be expanded in the future as necessary based on evolving standards and risks.
Since 2015, we've been a member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and have started reporting our progress through the RSPO's Annual Communication of Progress as well as the World Wildlife Fund Buyers Scorecard. We are tracking towards sourcing only Certified Sustainable Palm Oil as an ingredient in our U.S. and Canadian products and as a cooking oil internationally. Progress continues on this journey, and while we're a minor user of this oil, we understand the interest and have made a commitment to only source CSPO in North American products by 2022 and we will be announcing a plan for our international restaurants in late 2017.
In 2017, we achieved our goal of elimination of the use of all antibiotics in chicken that are important to human medicine. We also have announced plans related to a reduction in antibiotic use in our beef and pork supply.
We have long partnered with innovators and leaders throughout the beef industry to advance responsible practices in animal production, health and welfare. In 2016, we joined the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef to have an active voice in discussions about the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the U.S. Beef industry. We are a participant in the ongoing discussions to create accountability throughout the U.S. beef value chain and anticipate reporting our progress as the Roundtable establishes programs and standards.
In 2012, we established a goal to work with our U.S. and Canadian pork suppliers to eliminate the use of sow gestation stalls by 2022. We continue to make progress on this goal and are closely watching industry and production trends.
Because of one adoption, a child was given the love and support to pursue his dream of starting an old-fashioned hamburger restaurant. His name was Dave Thomas, our founder. That's why Wendy's has helped thousands of children find safe and loving families, so they can pursue their dreams just like Dave. When you visit Wendy's, you are supporting our charity, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Dave's charity works hard every day to match kids waiting in foster care with parents waiting for kids. Adoptions happen through an amazing program called Wendy's Wonderful Kids. We believe every child deserves a loving, permanent family and to date, Wendy's Wonderful Kids has made that dream come true for more than 6,000 kids. Together, we can make this dream a reality for every child, so they will have what Dave had - a place to call home.
In January 2016, we joined the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Building Challenge. Among the first restaurant companies to join this challenge, we committed to reduce energy consumption in our U.S. company-owned locations by 20 percent by 2025. To broaden this commitment, we launched the Wendy's Energy Challenge, encouraging franchisees in the U.S. and Canada to lower the energy use in their restaurants. As of mid-2017 approximately 20 franchisees have joined the Wendy's Energy Challenge, representing more than 1,400 restaurants. In our company-owned restaurants, we've lowered energy use per transaction by 12 percent in 2016 against a 2013 baseline. The approximately 500 franchise restaurants that reported data in 2016 have saved enough energy to power 540 U.S. homes for a year.
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®, a non-profit public charity, works to dramatically increase the adoptions of children from foster care. With more than 110,000 children in the United States waiting to be adopted, we believe that no child should live without a loving family.
