This year, we continued to make progress toward our goal of building a stronger, more sustainable Wendy's®.
Much of this work lies in the way we source our food. We're collaborating across the industry in new ways to strengthen the resilience of the U.S. beef supply chain. These efforts not only protect the long-term quality and availability of our fresh, never frozen beef*, but also advance our efforts to source food responsibly and reduce our environmental footprint. Guided by our corporate responsibility strategy and commitment to quality, we are proud to share an update on our progress since publishing our article Corporate Responsibility Report 2024 in the spring.
Investing in resilient supply chains
Fresh*, never frozen beef is at the heart of Wendy's identity and a cornerstone of our responsible sourcing strategy. Our promise of fresh* and never frozen is based on a reliable, high-quality supply of beef from trusted suppliers. At the same time, we know that beef production is linked to natural ecosystems and local communities and that it is important to protect both.
Dynamics such as water availability, soil health and biodiversity impact this supply chain. By supporting programs that help producers adopt improved land and livestock management practices, Wendy's works to support cattle operations that, in turn, contribute to our own responsible sourcing and climate goals.
As part of our efforts, Wendy's recently joined Legacy Landscapes Programa rancher-focused initiative to improve livestock and land management practices in key beef producing regions in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The program provides financial and technical assistance to help ranchers implement adaptive grazing plans to improve rangeland management and ecosystem practices.
Legacy Landscapes was originally launched with a seed investment from Nestlé Purina PetCare and is managed in partnership by AgriWebb, the National Grazing Lands Coalition and Regrow. Through additional collaboration with industry, the program is designed to accelerate the path to improving outcomes across the U.S. beef supply chain.
In 2025, Wendy's also partnered with AgSpire to launch the Fresh Resilience Beef Cattle Program. The focus of this program is to assist small and medium-sized ranchers and livestock feeders in the Central Plains and Midwest to improve their nutrient optimization, feed efficiency and overall operational stability. Through this initiative, participating businesses will receive technical guidance, tools and financial incentives to strengthen their businesses against weather, market and other disruptions. The program is also intended to improve yields and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
These investments reflect Wendy's belief that significant changes in the food system require partnership and collaboration across the supply chain. By helping drive robust beef production, we work to ensure that our most iconic menu item – our fresh, never frozen Wendy's hamburger – continues to represent quality and reflect responsible business practices.
Supporting our communities and improving our environmental footprint
Across the Wendy's system, our employees and partners continue to embody our core value of doing the right thing, the right way.
This year's Frosty 5K Run for Adoption had record participation, with runners from seven countries taking part in the campaign. Over 2,000 participants helped raise nearly $226,000 for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA), Wendy's flagship cause dedicated to helping children in foster care find permanent homes.
Additionally, we have continued to expand opportunities for customers to support DTFA's mission. The Round Up for Adoption program, a pilot program for over a year, allows customers to round up their bill to the nearest dollar to support DTFA. More than 600 restaurants in 55 markets and 13 franchise organizations participated, collectively raising more than $320,000 year-to-date. This year, the program will expand to additional restaurants and more than triple in size, with more than 1,900 Wendy's restaurants expected to participate, just in time for the holiday giving season.
Earlier this year, Wendy's partnered with Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) to celebrate entrepreneurship and community spirit Collaboration with Thin Mints Frosty. More than 4,200 restaurants nationwide hosted Girl Scouts booths to help girls reach their cookie sales goals while giving customers an opportunity to support their local community.
While we work to make our existing packaging more sustainable, we are also committed to ensuring that any new packaging we introduce comes from sustainable sources. Our newest menu item in the US and Canada, Chicken Tenders, features new packaging that meets the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Certified Sourcing standard, meaning the fibers in this packaging come from responsibly managed forests. This milestone builds on previous conversions from fry boxes, chili cups and baking bags.
Guided by Good Done Right, we scale the practices that make Wendy's successful with a long-term perspective on sustaining the ecosystems, people and partnerships essential to delivering on our quality promise to our customers.
We look forward to reporting further progress in our 2025 Corporate Responsibility Report, expected to be published next spring.
*Fresh beef is available in the contiguous United States and Alaska, as well as Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and other select international markets.