Since 1992, Yum! Brands has donated 215 million-plus lbs. of food to those in need (2024)

Since 1992, Yum! Brands has donated 215 million-plus lbs. of food to those in need (1)

Somewhere in Poland, a notification pushes from the brand’s app. The customer who ordered the large Stuffed Crust pepperoni pizza wants thin crust instead. At a KFC in Brazil, it’s the end of the lunch rush hour, and some Original Recipe chicken has gone unsold. Situations like these occur across restaurants around the world.

This surplus food presents an opportunity for Yum! Brands. As the world’s largest restaurant business and parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and The Habit Burger Grill, Yum! and its brands’ franchisees are uniquely positioned to donate unused product to food banks and charities on a global scale. This not only feeds those in need but also keeps food out of landfills, curbing carbon emissions.

“We’re helping to solve hunger issues in various markets and impact climate change. It’s rewarding work,” Maria Echeverri, KFC Latin America and Caribbean food donation lead, said. “And we’re proud of the progress we’ve made. Since Yum! created Harvest in 1992, the company has donated over 215 million lbs. of food to more than 5,000 charity partners in 25-plus countries, which is the equivalent of removing over 19 million trash bags from landfills. But we still know there is more work to be done.”

Harvest, which Echeverri mentioned, is run by Food Donation Connection (FDC). It started in 1992 and was, at the time, the only such program in the United States, making Pizza Hut the first national chain to donate its surplus food. Bill Reighard, a former Pizza Hut/PepsiCo executive who left the company, founded FDC, and the company now partners with other restaurant chains. Among them is KFC, which began its Harvest program in the United States in 1999, marking 2024 as the partnership’s 25th anniversary.

Since 1992, Yum! Brands has donated 215 million-plus lbs. of food to those in need (2)

Harvest also works as a retention tool. In Trinidad and Tobago, one of KFC’s most frequented markets, franchisee Roger Rambharose, vice president of Prestige Holdings Limited, saw the program as an opportunity to connect with his Generation Z team members, who were looking for a sense of purpose in their work. So, his team identified seven local charities and mapped out a weekly collection process. They bought a freezer truck to transport the surplus food in the hot Caribbean weather and branded the vehicle with Harvest messaging to visually alert the community of the program. It’s been so successful, Rambharose has seen an immediate increase in team member retention (watch him talk about it in the video below).

Another success story is in the U.K. where KFC and its franchisees donates its surplus food through the biggest food redistribution program in the country, Fareshare. Since partnering with them in 2021, its food donation has grown by two-thirds, providing 1 million meals over the past three years and targeting 2 million meals by the end of 2024.

“About half of our restaurants are currently donating their surplus chicken,” Louise Norris, KFC Foundation manager in the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI), said. “We work every day to increase that amount and have done some pretty fun activations, like a community kitchen in which influencers created recipes using leftover KFC chicken. We want to show our customers that they, too, can put food on plates, not landfills.”

Since 1992, Yum! Brands has donated 215 million-plus lbs. of food to those in need (3)

Even Yum!’s test kitchens send unused product to those in need. Taco Bell donates surplus food from its Irvine, California, corporate office and its distribution centers. In Plano, Texas, Jennifer Gilara, who was once a Pizza Hut general manager before running its test kitchen, donated 6,000 lbs. of food to a local homeless shelter in 2023. She has a goal of doubling that this year.

“As the world’s largest restaurant company, we can make a big impact and lead in the food donation space,” Gilara said. “I’m so grateful that we’ve found a solution that has the potential to work in every one of our markets to feed those in our communities.”

Whether it’s Harvest through FDC, food donation through FareShare or another organization, or a direct donation, Yum! Brands will continue to feed those in need, curb greenhouse gas emissions and provide a sense of purpose to team members.

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Since 1992, Yum! Brands has donated 215 million-plus lbs. of food to those in need (2024)

FAQs

Since 1992, Yum! Brands has donated 215 million-plus lbs. of food to those in need? ›

Since Yum! created Harvest in 1992, the company has donated over 215 million lbs. of food to more than 5,000 charity partners in 25-plus countries, which is the equivalent of removing over 19 million trash bags from landfills. But we still know there is more work to be done."

Who donated the most food? ›

The United States is the largest bilateral (individual country) donor of international food assistance.

How much of the food that people buy in the US is wasted? ›

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 31% of the American food supply goes to waste at the retail and consumer levels. That's equal to about 133 billion pounds, worth $161 billion.

What billionaires donate the most? ›

Here are the billionaires who give away the most money, according to Forbes
  • Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett has a lifetime giving of $56.7 billion. ...
  • Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. ...
  • George Soros. ...
  • Michael Bloomberg. ...
  • MacKenzie Scott. ...
  • Jim and Marilyn Simons. ...
  • Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. ...
  • Steve and Connie Ballmer.
Mar 5, 2024

Who is the largest food donor in the world? ›

In 2023, the United States was the largest donor to the World Food Programme (WFP), funding over 3 billion U.S. dollars in directed and flexible funding. Germany was the second largest donor, funding over 1 billion U.S. dollars.

What is the most wasted food in the United States? ›

According to the nonprofit organization Feeding America, Americans waste more than $408 billion each year on food, with dairy products being the food item we toss out the most.

What country wastes the most food? ›

Worldwide, the three highest food waste countries in 2021, namely with the most food waste originating from households, were China (almost 92 million tonnes), India (almost 69 million tonnes) and the United States of America (almost 20 million tonnes).

Is 40 of all food in the US wasted? ›

Food waste statistics in the US

In the United States, people waste 92 billion pounds of food annually, equal to 145 billion meals. They throw away over $473 billion worth of food annually. Shockingly, they waste 38% of all the food in America.

Who gives most of our food? ›

Plants and animals are the main source of food for all the organisms on earth. Food obtained from animals is the main source of protein and include fish, milk, meat, poultry, and cheese. Whereas plants provide us with fruits and vegetables, which are an important source of fibres, proteins and carbohydrates.

Who throws away the most food? ›

Food waste is responsible for 254 million tonnes of GHG. Worldwide, the three highest food waste countries in 2021, namely with the most food waste originating from households, were China (almost 92 million tonnes), India (almost 69 million tonnes) and the United States of America (almost 20 million tonnes).

Who provides the most food aid? ›

Through USAID's Office of Food for Peace, USAID is the largest provider of food assistance in the world using both food grown in the U.S. and cash for more flexible programming abroad.

Who is the biggest contributor to food waste? ›

Grocery Store Food Waste

About 30 percent of food in American grocery stores is thrown away. US retail stores generate about 16 billion pounds of food waste every year. Wasted food from the retail sector is valued at about twice the amount of profit from food sales.

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