Protecting Forests

According to the UN, forests cover one third of the earth’s land mass, performing vital functions and supporting the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people,1 and play a vital role in safeguarding the climate by naturally capturing and storing carbon.2

As a company with global operations and a complex supply chain, we acknowledge that we have an important role to play in promoting the elimination of deforestation within our industry, responsible forest management practices in commodity sourcing around the world, and the protection of biodiversity and human rights.

In our supply chain, we aim to help advance responsible forest management practices and eliminate deforestation by 2030 or sooner for several key commodities, including coffee, palm oil, fibre-based packaging, soy in poultry feed and beef.

Our deforestation policy outlines requirements for both direct and indirect suppliers regarding:

  1. Compliance (e.g., maintaining accountability via assurance programs)
  2. Land use management and governance
  3. Workers’ rights

1 https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/forests/why-do-forests-matter
2 https://www.worldwildlife.org/habitats/forest-habitat

Our Strategy

At a minimum, RBI requires that suppliers comply with all applicable federal, state, provincial, and local laws regarding land use, agriculture, development, and fair labour practices.

Our efforts are focused on priority commodities that are sourced in large volumes for our brands, either directly or indirectly, and where we can potentially leverage our scale for greatest impact: palm oil, fibre-based packaging, soy in poultry feed, beef and coffee.

Each commodity is different and requires a tailored approach. As such, our deforestation policy outlines the specific requirements per priority commodity.

Palm Oil

At RBI, we prioritize the responsible sourcing of palm oil due to the inherent deforestation risk associated with its production.

We are actively working with our approved suppliers to source palm oil that does not contribute to deforestation3 nor agricultural development on peatlands.

Goal – That palm oil directly sourced and used as an ingredient at greater than 1% in our approved branded food products be supplied through a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified supply chain, like Mass Balance, Segregated Supply or Identity Preserved, supporting the production of sustainable palm oil in countries where and when it is commercially available (excluding third-party branded products, as well as cooking oil used in and food products sold in Turkey).

Progress – In 2024, RBI estimates 95% of the palm oil volumes within the scope of our Palm Oil Sourcing Policy were Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)-certified Mass Balance or better, with the remaining volumes covered by Book and Claim credits. This includes all palm oil directly sourced by the Tim Hortons®, Burger King®, Popeyes® and Firehouse Subs® brands, and approved food products with greater than 1% palm oil/palm kernel oil as an ingredient, excluding third-party branded products, and cooking oil used in and food products sold in Turkey.


3 Deforestation defined by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Fibre-Based Packaging

RBI is working with suppliers to increase the use of fibre from certified or recycled sources4 within guest-facing fibre-based packaging in Tim Hortons®, Burger King®, Popeyes®, and Firehouse Subs® restaurants. We consider certifications from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council, or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification as acceptable ways to ensure that the fibre-based packaging we use in our restaurants is sourced from certified sustainably managed forests.

Progress – As of the end of 2024, we estimate 90% of the approved, guest-facing, fibre-based packaging across RBI globally came from recycled or certified sources.5


4 Certified sources defined as sources certified by at least one of the following certification bodies: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) or Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)

5 To qualify as compliant, 100% of the materials within the fibre of the approved packaging item must be made from pre- or post-consumer recycled materials and must be third-party verified, unless certified under a Chain of Custody forest management standard, such as the FSC

Soy in Poultry Feed

Our brands procure relatively small amounts of soy used directly as ingredients in our food products, however, we are a large buyer of poultry – which is typically fed soy.

Knowing the origin of inputs to our products and being able to trace this through the supply chain is fundamental when it comes to validating that these inputs were not sourced from deforested areas. A key ingredient in animal feed, we recognize soy has high deforestation risk when sourced from certain regions.

Given the complexity of global soy supply chains, we view any poultry sourced from outside North America (where soy used in poultry feed is locally produced) as high-deforestation risk.

We are members of the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) and continue to engage our suppliers and industry stakeholders to understand our global soy footprint.

Beef

As one of the world’s major beef purchasers, we recognize the unique opportunity that exists across our brands to positively impact the beef supply chain.

We require that all approved raw material suppliers of beef sourced from Brazil maintain active policies on illegal deforestation in the Amazon biome.

Additionally, we are a member of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) and the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB), where we continue to work alongside the industry to advance and support continuous improvement in sustainable beef.

Coffee

Coffee is core to the Tim Hortons brand. While the process from coffee bean to coffee cup can be complex, Tim Hortons is committed to responsibly sourcing its coffee while also supporting the people, places and partners across the coffee supply chain. We are proud to partner with Enveritas, which assesses 100% of Tim Hortons coffee purchases each year under a set of social, economic and environmental indicators.

Supplier Engagement

We will continue to work collaboratively within our supply chain, through global roundtables and with other organizations to identify opportunities and solutions.