Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands provides a high-level disclosure of its key proteins in its ‘2023 Annual Report’. It disclosed that its business relies on large quantities of poultry, beef, pork, cheese, and seafood. It is unclear what species are represented by poultry, but it is assumed to be majority broilers and eggs as chicken is cited in the company’s annual report as one of its principal items purchased and the company has an animal welfare policy in place for cage-free eggs.

Yum! Brands reports that since 2018, it has removed antibiotics important to human medicine from KFC’s US poultry supply chain. It is unclear if this policy also refers to laying hens as the company does not provide its definition for poultry. In addition, Yum! Brands have removed antibiotics important to human medicine for all chicken products for its Taco Bell US restaurants and for its chicken toppings and chicken wings for its Pizza Hut US restaurants. Regarding beef, Yum! Brands have published a ‘Beef Good Antimicrobial Stewardship Program’ and set a target to reduce antibiotics important to human medicine for its US and Canada sourcing by 25% by 2025. Note that although “antibiotics important to human medicine” is a term occasionally used by the industry to represent the 35 antimicrobial classes used in human medicine outlined in the WHO’s ‘Critically important antimicrobials for human medicine 6th revision’, it does not correctly reflect the WHO’s wording, which is “medically important antimicrobials” (MIAs). The company does not disclose a policy for its other purchased proteins including pork, dairy, laying hens, and seafood.

Yum! Brands antibiotic policy which prohibits the use of antibiotics important to human medicine in broilers applies to its KFC US supply chain, its Taco Bell US restaurants, and from its chicken wings and chicken pizza toppings for its Pizza Hut US restaurants. It does not have a policy in place for its Habit Burger Grill restaurants, its international restaurants, or for the chicken served in its pasta dishes at its Pizza Hut US restaurants. It is unclear exactly what percentage of its broiler supply chain is covered by a policy but note that 67% of its units are international. Yum! Brands antibiotic policy to reduce the use of antibiotics to human medicine by 25% by 2025 applies to its Taco Bell US and Canadian beef sourcing. Yum! Brands disclose in its CDP report that its beef use is largely in its Taco Bell Brand. The company further states that about 88% of Taco Bell’s restaurants are located within the United States and the vast majority of the brand’s beef sourcing is from the US. The company further states that some of its beef use is also attributed to its Habitat Burger Grill but KFC does not use a material amount of beef. It is unclear exactly how much beef is used by Habitat Burger Grill however the company reports that it has 349 units in this division while its Taco Bell division consists of 8,218 restaurants. Additionally, note that the company has 27,760 units for its KFC division and 19,034 for its Pizza Hut division. Yum! Brands reports that for its international efforts, it has driven the improvement in judicious use of antimicrobials in Asia and Africa and is working with international suppliers to eliminate the use of antimicrobials for growth promotion even where permitted by law. It has also deployed a third-party supplier audit on animal welfare and consultancy program globally, and in two European markets, it has achieved a 50% reduction in the use of antimicrobials. Yum China also has a program which recognises the application of judicious use of antimicrobials. Although Yum! Brands reports such efforts to reduce the use of antimicrobials in its international markets it has not banned or restricted the use of MIAs aligned with WHO’s’ guidance and therefore is not considered to have any policies for these divisions.

There is some evidence that Yum! Brands is tracking and monitoring antibiotic use within its broiler supply chain as it has disclosed that it has prohibited the use of MIAs from its KFC US and Taco Bell US restaurants, and from its chicken toppings and chicken wings at Pizza Hut US restaurants. Additionally, the company has disclosed that it is piloting a regular assessment of the impact of its supplier’s husbandry practices on antimicrobial usage in poultry and has seen a 50% reduction in the use of antimicrobials in two European markets. There is no evidence that Yum! Brands is currently tracking or monitoring the use of antibiotics important in its beef supply chain. However, through the International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA), Taco Bell is funding research to help develop a system for beef producers to better evaluate and report their antimicrobial usage. Furthermore, there is no evidence that Yum! Brands is tracking and monitoring antibiotic use for its purchased pork, egg-layers, dairy, and seafood.

The company reports that it continues to use the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Process Verified Program (PVP) to verify that its broilers are produced without MIAs demonstrating third-party auditing. The company explains in its ‘Global Position on Good Antimicrobial Stewardship’ report that the consultative supplier audits it deploys across its global business provide strong insight into AMR challenges and potential solutions and that it regularly audits its suppliers to confirm compliance with its food safety and quality standards. However, it is unclear if the company carries out audits on its US and Canadian beef supply chain to ensure compliance with its Taco Bell policy.

Yum! Brands does not disclose how it manages non-compliance with its antibiotic policies.

In 2019, Yum! Brands set a timebound target for its Taco Bell restaurants to reduce the use of antibiotics important to human medicine in its US and Canadian beef sourcing by 25% by 2025. Yum! Brands has not set any other targets to reduce its antibiotic use in its protein supply chains.

Yum! Brands' target to reduce the use of antibiotics important to human medicine by 25% applies to its US and Canadian beef sourcing for its Taco Bell restaurants.

In its 2021 sustainability report Yum! Brands disclosed some evidence towards this target and reported that since 2019, when Taco Bell published its beef policy, approximately 15% of its raw beef supply has been procured from reduced antibiotic sources. The company did not provide an update in its ‘2022 Global Citizenship & Sustainability Report’ and it is unclear if it is on track to reach its commitment by 2025.

Yum! Brands is inactive and did not respond to the collaborative engagements formal letter sent in July.