Better Health for All

In 2022, Wendy's had zero recalls but experienced a regional product withdrawal of sandwich romaine lettuce as a precautionary measure.

The company was also linked to a multistate E. coli outbreak investigated by the CDC in 2022. Wendy's identifies major food allergens as defined by FDA and Health Canada, acknowledges the possibility of cross-contact, and provides nutritional information, including calorie counts and allergen details, on its website. In 2006, Wendy's was the first fast-food chain to eliminate trans fat in its cooking oil by switching to a soy and corn oil blend. In 2016, the company reduced sodium in its grilled chicken sandwich by 18% and in the grilled chicken fillet by 37%. Wendy's also removed soda from kids' meals. However, the company's product portfolio remains predominantly unhealthy, with no specific data on the percentage of healthy versus unhealthy offerings.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

For the 2024 fiscal year, Wendy's CEO pay ratio was 604:1, with the CEO receiving $17,308,117 and the median employee earning $28,675.

As of 2024, Wendy's reported that it does not have any employees covered by collective bargaining agreements. For U.S. Company restaurant employees (crew to District Manager), the base salary ratio ranges from 1:0.98 to 1:1.01 (male:female), and for U.S. Company employees that support restaurants, it ranges from 1:0.91 to 1:1.03 (male:female). An employee happiness score from Comparably.com, based on 1498 employee responses, gave Wendy's a 'D' rating, placing it in the bottom 15% of similar-sized companies, with 44% of employees feeling they are paid fairly and 61% reporting burnout. The company has incurred $2,378,739 in penalties since 2000, with $2,273,808 related to wage and hour violations, including a $1,500,000 private lawsuit in 2011 and a $400,000 violation in 2020. The company's code of conduct states that employers provide wages and benefits that comply with applicable laws and regulations and match or exceed local minimums. However, no specific percentage of the global workforce with employer-funded health insurance is provided, beyond a 2018 contract for 29 employees in Thunder Bay which included a basic insured health benefit plan with a 50/50 premium split.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

Wendy's requires U.S. egg, beef, pork, and chicken suppliers to undergo independent, third-party audits annually.

Suppliers not achieving an "excellent" score are audited at least twice per year. The company performs over 1,000 audits annually against quality and food safety standards for suppliers and completed more than 13,000 Food Safety Assessments globally at its restaurants in 2024. Wendy's has not reported any specific incidents of forced or child labor in the provided documents. In 2021, Wendy's tracked nearly 13 million data points across all major food products. Its Animal Care Standards Program (ACSP) evaluated all direct protein suppliers and select upstream suppliers, amounting to over 20,000 farms and facilities across the U.S. and Canada. A pilot program successfully tracked Applewood Smoked Bacon from farm to restaurant, covering 4.6 million hogs from nearly 600 producers. In cases of non-compliance, Wendy's expects immediate implementation of corrective measures under a plan approved by Wendy's. Wendy's has a comprehensive Supplier Code of Conduct that applies to significant suppliers in its North America restaurant system, and all suppliers in scope for the responsible sourcing program are expected to acknowledge it. The code requires third-party reviews related to human rights and labor practices for suppliers of hand-harvested, whole, fresh produce. Wendy's conducted a deforestation risk assessment, identifying beef, fiber associated with paper packaging, palm oil, and soy as primary commodities most at risk. It also assessed direct beef suppliers for water risk. In 2024, Wendy's sourced 100% of its global palm oil sustainably, utilizing RSPO Mass Balance (30%) and palm trace credits (70%).

Kind to Animals

In 2023, 9% of the eggs purchased for U.S. restaurants were cage-free.

For pork, 99.99% of confirmed pregnant sows in the U.S. and Canada supply chain were produced without the use of gestation crates. Wendy's has established animal care principles and requirements for beef, chicken, and pork suppliers, including guidelines for housing, handling, and transportation, such as requiring cattle to rest after unloading and chicken houses to be well ventilated. However, the company has no public position on animal welfare legislation. In 2023, Wendy's conducted more than 850 assessments and audits of suppliers' facilities in the U.S. and Canada, and invited 100% of in-scope suppliers to enroll on the EcoVadis platform, with 44% completing the self-assessment.

Planet-Friendly Business

Wendy's reported Scope 1 and 2 emissions of 53,280.93 tCO₂e in 2024, alongside Scope 3 Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) emissions of 4,549,081 tCO₂e for the same year.

The company has SBTi-validated targets to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 47% per restaurant by 2030 from a 2019 baseline, and updated Scope 3 emissions targets for supply chain and franchisees by 55% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. For company-operated restaurants, 11% of energy is sourced from renewables. Water withdrawn by company-operated restaurants in 2024 was 633.14 ML against a revenue of $2.2B, which equates to 287.8 m³ per $1M revenue. Of the water withdrawn by company-operated restaurants, 267.82 ML was from high water stress areas and 93.70 ML from extremely high water stress areas, totaling 361.52 ML. The company has committed to no deforestation across primary commodities by December 31, 2025, and initiated a deforestation risk assessment. 64% of in-scope suppliers have completed a self-assessment on the EcoVadis platform. 65% of packaging is made from recycled/renewable materials, and 86% is recyclable/reusable/compostable.