Tyson Foods released its 2021 (FY21) Sustainability Report today, which reflects the company’s continued focus on supporting its people and communities, driving product responsibility, and working to sustain natural resources.

“More than ever, Tyson Foods is operating as part of a global food system and we have a critical role to play in responsibly producing food that is affordable, accessible, and nutritious,” said John R. Tyson, EVP strategy & chief sustainability officer, Tyson Foods. “At the same time, we are investing in team member benefits and services to become the most sought-after place to work in the protein industry.”

In 2021, Tyson Foods began a process to further establish long-range 2030 goals and metrics that will help more deeply embed its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities and commitments into its business. Through an extensive materiality assessment¹, Tyson Foods engaged diverse internal and external partners to identify important issues where opportunities could be addressed. The materiality assessment reinforced the opportunity Tyson Foods has to drive a better future for society and further demonstrated how investing in people and planet is critical for the company’s growth.

Based on this assessment, Tyson Foods fine-tuned the pillars of its Formula to Feed the Future strategy, the company’s framework to help build a food system that supports all people and sustains the planet, broadening the scope of the focus areas that Tyson Foods is committed to positively impacting for team members, communities, the industry, and its business. Underpinning these focus areas is a strong foundation of corporate governance, business ethics, supply chain management, and data privacy & cybersecurity.

Other key achievements supporting Tyson Foods’ Formula to Feed the Future framework include:

• Reimagining People & Community Impact: Create work environments that enable workers to succeed while supporting the growth of Tyson communities 
  • Talent Attraction & Development: 
    • Invested $500 million+ in wage increases and bonuses to our hourly workforce, including $50 million in one-time, thank-you bonuses delivered at the end of the year.
    • Expanded Upward Academy adult education program to provide all U.S. team members with free education through a four-year, $60 million investment.
    • DEI: Established a chief diversity officer and continued to have compensation metrics for company officers tied to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • ­Human Rights & Labor Relations: Committed $1 million through the Tyson Immigration Partnership to expand legal and citizenship support to team members across the nation ensuring that everyone has access to training, education, and legal support to becoming U.S. citizens and welcome members of Tyson communities.
  • Health, Safety & Wellbeing: Achieved over 96% COVID-19 vaccination rate in its U.S. workforce by its target of Nov. 1, 2021, as part of the company’s commitment to keep employees, their families and plant communities safe.
  • Community Investment: Donated 16 million+ pounds of protein— valued at $36 million and equivalent to 64 million meals—to support food banks, pantries and hunger relief organizations.
• Driving Product Responsibility from Farm to Table: Deliver value to consumers with high quality, sustainable, nutritious protein through a leading portfolio of products 
  • ­Product Innovation: Reached a $100 million+ total investment into Tyson Ventures to support startups and other companies focused on emerging proteins, new technologies for food and worker safety, and sustainable production
  • Sustainable Packaging: Piloted sustainable packaging solutions for several products and began testing the validation of new recyclable, pulp fiber trays to replace traditional trays made of foam
  • Animal Health & Welfare: Integrated the Five Domains animal welfare framework across global operations and became the first beef processor to join the U.S. CattleTrace program
  • Nutrition, Access & Affordability: Expanded portfolio with several innovative new options, including Tyson Air Fried Chicken Bites, Tyson Chicken Sausage, and Raised & Rooted Plant Based Bites
  • Product Quality & Safety: Continued to honor its commitment to produce safe, high quality food that complies with all applicable laws and meets stringent quality, safety, and durability requirements. Tyson also require suppliers of food contact packaging to be certified against and comply with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) guidelines for food contact packaging.
• Working Toward Sustaining Natural Resources and Achieving Net Zero: Drive practices in Tyson's own operations and supply chains to sustainably produce protein for a growing population within planetary boundaries 
  • Climate Action: Announced company's ambition to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, by 2050
  • Land Stewardship: Developed a beef-focused GHG emissions accounting framework to capture cradle-to-gate emissions and verify emission reductions through more sustainable agricultural practices
  • Water Stewardship: Achieved Alliance for Water Stewardship verification for three U.S. plants
  • Waste Reduction: Achieved Zero Waste to Landfill gold-level validation at six U.S. plants where 95-99% of certain waste streams has been diverted from landfills

The sustainability report and accompanying information can be found on Tyson Foods’ Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Hub, which provides resources on all sustainability initiatives, including background information on key topics, ESG-related policies and statements, and an ESG data center.

[1] No formal monetary threshold was applied or determined in Tyson Foods’ materiality assessment

Source: Tyson Foods