Pizza Hut, known for cheese-centric innovations, and its parent company Yum! Brands are partnering with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a farmer-owned cooperative with more than 11,500 farm families, and dairy suppliers to provide participating farmers with the technology and data needed to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Pizza Hut has begun working alongside DFA and dairy suppliers to enroll interested dairy farm families within their supply chain in the joint dairy project, where they’ll participate in annual farm-level greenhouse gas and energy foot-printing through the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management and Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES) evaluation over a three-year period. By 2025, the end of the three-year period, Pizza Hut aims to source 50% of the dairy used to make its pizza cheese from dairy farms enrolled in the FARM ES program.
Once enrolled, farms will receive a SCiO cup, the world’s fastest lab-grade dry matter analyzer, allowing farmers to access instant dry matter analysis of their cows’ feed, helping deliver precise nutrition and – in turn – produce milk more efficiently, create less waste and reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions. The farms will also be eligible to apply for funds to implement sustainability projects while continuing to actively recruit DFA members throughout the partnership. In addition to using SCiO cups, farmers participating in the program will have the chance to adopt other practices and technologies such as feed management enhancements and energy-efficient lighting.
“Pizza Hut has a long history of implementing industry-leading innovation,” said Penny Shaheen, Head of Food Innovation and Technology at Pizza Hut. “With this sustainability initiative, we’re able to utilize technology along with our dairy partners in a way that helps the environment while still delivering the iconic taste that pizza lovers have come to expect from our offerings.”
Since Pizza Hut’s inception in 1958, it has worked with the same family-owned business to supply 100% real cheese made with whole milk to top its pizza and that commitment to the highest-quality cheese will remain unchanged. With this announcement, Pizza Hut will leverage its national scale by partnering with DFA and dairy suppliers to help make its supply chain more environmentally friendly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“In 2020, Dairy Farmers of America became the first U.S. dairy cooperative to set a science-based target to reduce both direct and value chain greenhouse gas emissions, and this partnership with Pizza Hut and Dairy Farmers of America is an important piece in those continued efforts,” said Hansel New, director of sustainability programs at DFA. “We appreciate partners supporting our dairy farm families by investing in meaningful, innovative technologies and practices that advance environmental stewardship, while reducing farm-level greenhouse gas emissions.”
The project is also part of a broader strategy that will help all parties reach additional long-term sustainability goals:
• Yum! and Pizza Hut: decrease GHG emissions 46% by 2030 with a focus on restaurants and supply chain and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
• Dairy Farmers of America: 30% GHG emissions reduction across supply chain by 2030. DFA is also part of an industry-wide collaboration through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy to be greenhouse neutral or better by 2050.
This farm-level project builds on existing industry collaborations and partnerships. Since 2019, Yum! Brands has been a member of the Innovation Center’s Dairy Sustainability Alliance®, a multi-stakeholder group consisting of companies and organizations from across the dairy community and others who want to contribute to dairy’s social responsibility journey. DFA is also an active member, having joined in 2010.
“We are proud to work with Dairy Farmers of America in this innovative project,” said Jon Hixson, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Global Government Affairs at Yum! Brands. “U.S. dairy producers have set leading aspirations in sustainability and we are excited to partner with them in support of practices that improve the sustainability of the dairy supply chain.”
For more information on Yum!, Pizza Hut, and Dairy Farmers of America, visit yum.com, pizzahut.com, and dfamilk.com respectively.
###
About Pizza Hut® Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), was founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kan., and operates more than 18,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. With easy order options including the Pizza Hut mobile app, website, and Amazon and Google devices, Pizza Hut is committed to providing an easy pizza experience – from order to delivery – and has Hut Rewards®, the Pizza Hut loyalty program that offers points for every dollar spent on food any way you order. Now more than ever, restaurants have an important role in helping to safely feed families. As the largest pizza brand in the world by store count, Pizza Hut is committed to doing its part. To help keep team members and customers safe, customers can get their favorite Pizza Hut pizza via three contactless offerings: curbside pickup, delivery, or carryout. After becoming the first national pizza brand to offer contactless curbside pickup, Pizza Hut launched The Hut Lane™, a dedicated digital order pick-up window available at more than 1,500 locations across the country.
Pizza Hut is the creator of The BOOK IT! Program, which is the nation’s longest running corporate supported literacy program. Building on that legacy, the program’s BOOK IT! in the Community Initiative is designed to enable access to books and education resources, empower teachers and inspire a lifelong love of reading. The program is rooted in the foundation set by the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program which impacts more than 14 million students each year.
Pizza Hut is the Official and Only Pizza Sponsor of the NCAA®. For more information about Pizza Hut, visit www.pizzahut.com or http://www.pizzahut.com/c/content/sitemap
About Dairy Farmers of America
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving more than 11,500 family farm-owners, DFA manufactures nearly every form, function and flavor of nutritional dairy products, including fluid milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, dairy ingredients and more that connect our Cooperative’s family farms to family tables with regional brands such as Alta Dena® Dairy, Meadow Gold® Dairy, Friendly®’s, Borden® Cheese, Plugrá® Premium Butter and Kemps® to name a few. On a global scale, we work with some of the world’s leading food companies to develop ingredients that deliver the greatest source of nutrition to consumers around the world, while staying committed to social responsibility and ethical farming. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com.
