As we have transformed our business to a predominantly franchised model — operating fewer company-owned restaurants in fewer markets — we have also adapted our food safety governance processes. We focus on putting the right people with the right capabilities in place at the global brand level so that individual business units can empower franchise partners with clear metrics, goals and resources to successfully integrate our food safety policies and standards and deliver on our compliance programs. This transition means that our franchise partners have more responsibility to communicate our brands’ food safety requirements to their organizations as they make sense for their situation.
FOOD SAFETY
GOVERNING BODIES
Our food safety governing bodies certify that regulatory compliance, legal requirements and Yum!’s policies and standards for food safety are met and maintained by franchise partners, suppliers and local business unit teams.
Audit Committee
Responsible for:
- Risk Management
- Annual Performance Assessments
Compliance Oversight Committee
The Yum! executive group responsible for:
- Maintaining oversight of risks including food safety and other enterprise risks
Global Food Safety Council
A group of senior food safety, operations and supply chain leaders led by our Chief Food Safety Officer. Their responsibilities include:
- Food Safety Policies
- Food Safety Standards
- Quality Assurance
- Processes & Measurement Systems
- Awareness Initiatives Around New Food Safety Science
- Emerging Best Practices in Risk Mitigation
Internal Audit Team
Responsible for independently evaluating the adequacy and effectiveness of:
- Yum!’s Internal Control Processes
- Compliance with Yum!’s Policies & Procedures
- Compliance with Food Safety Laws & Regulations
RESPONDING EFFECTIVELY TO CRISIS
The Yum! Brands Crisis Management Program is dedicated to anticipating, identifying and managing potential emerging food safety issues at the local, regional and global levels to protect the health and safety of our employees and consumers. In the event of a crisis, such as foodborne illness or product contamination, Crisis Core Teams (CCTs) are immediately activated to support the restaurant, franchisee or business unit. CCTs are identified proactively before a crisis event occurs and each member knows their role and responsibility during an active crisis.
Key leadership and decision-makers receive training to become CCT members as part of Yum! Brands Crisis Management Program. Our online crisis training course and web application tools allow CCT members to quickly identify and successfully manage crises within the Yum! Brands system. This crisis training is regularly reviewed and updated by internal and external stakeholders, including medical and epidemiology experts, based on new and emerging food safety science and best practices.
Most of our franchise partners have defined crisis management teams, crisis response procedures and crisis communication plans that clearly outline how to communicate with their business unit and brand and what actions to take to mitigate a food safety issue.
When it comes to communicating about a crisis with the public, we maintain a Global Crisis Communications Repeatable Model that serves as a playbook for responding swiftly and with care. An important aspect of our approach is listening for and responding to crises on social media. Our global social media monitoring system — the Social Hive, along with a community outbreak detection program — is active 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week and serves as an early warning system. The Social Hive tracks all mentions of Yum!, KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in more than 45 languages. This system also alerts the appropriate contacts if potential issues surface and assists in intelligence-gathering and communications planning.