Companies included in the restaurants and food service segment have activities serving meals prepared outside the home, primarily through restaurants or catering operations.
The 24 companies in the restaurants and food service segment are the second worst performers in the benchmark, behind animal protein producers. The segment’s top performer, Sodexo, significantly outperforms its peers, ranking 30th in the overall ranking, with the next closest companies, McDonalds (67th), and Compass Group (77th). The rest of the segment top ten is comprised of Thai Beverage (fourth), Starbucks (fifth), food service company Sysco (sixth), Yum! Brands (seventh), Chipotle Mexican Grill (eighth) and Aramark (ninth), and Restaurant Brands International (tenth).
While many of these companies disclose sustainability strategies, companies in this segment currently fail to build on these by demonstrating improved performance on key topics, particularly in the nutrition dimension. With their powerful consumer-facing position, companies in this segment should take leadership in advancing the accessibility, availability and affordability of healthy foods. However, all companies in this segment have room for improvement in addressing these challenges.
While companies have taken steps to report on key environmental issues, with 25% of companies reporting on reductions in scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and 17% on activities to tackle food waste, there is a general lack of disclosure on efforts to diversify their protein offerings. Moreover, while directly employing over three million people globally, companies in this segment currently lack disclosure on public commitments towards respecting human rights and policies toward regulating working hours or paying a living wage.