Taco Bell announced progress in achieving past goals and presented new goals for the years to come, including commitments to increase wages, promote diversity, spur menu innovation and give priority to sustainability.

One of the brand’s most notable initiatives is a leadership program called The Entrepreneur, which targets general managers of company-owned restaurants with a base salary of $ 80,000, with the potential to earn. up to $ 100,000 with bonuses. The news comes nearly two years after the chain revealed it was testing $ 100,000 in annual salaries at some company locations. For context, Taco Bell’s corporate locations represent less than 10 percent of its footprint in the United States.

For hourly workers, Taco Bell plans to increase its average minimum wage to $ 15 an hour in enterprise units by mid-2024. The chain has also put a focus on well- be of mental health by offering free sessions with on-call therapists for company employees in restaurants and headquarters. .

“Usually when you hear us talk about value, it refers to our delicious menu,” CEO Mark King said in a statement. “But next year we’ll be talking about a lot more value in a different sense: our brand values. Our goal, what is important to us and what we stand for. bold new goals and to hold ourselves accountable so that together we create a future that is dreamed of, sustainable and fair. “

In terms of increasing learning opportunities, Taco Bell is working with Guild Education, a company that connects brands with learning providers, to offer free undergraduate degrees to employees of company-run stores, including 100% coverage of tuition fees. The channel also revealed that it had achieved its three-year goal of awarding $ 21 million in Live Más scholarships. Up to an additional $ 7 million will be available for applicants by January 11.

Another driving philosophy is Integrating Racial Equity, which Taco Bell kicked off with the introduction of Katrina Thornton, the chain’s very first Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Officer. Seeking diversity in marketing campaigns, the brand has increased minority talent for at least 25% of screen, voiceover, model and influencer appearances in 2022. This includes the addition of the black hip-hop artist and former Taco Bell employee Lil Nas. X, who was made responsible for the impact.

Inside restaurants, Taco Bell is partnering with Beyond Meat to produce an “innovative plant protein that’s completely new to the national market.” [quick-service restaurant] space. ”And to ensure quality ingredients, the brand is working with PepsiCo to ensure by the end of 2022 that at least 50 percent of the average 20-ounce fountain drinks are 100 calories or less and are filled with 20 grams of sugar or less.

In addition, Taco Bell is identifying ways to reduce antibiotics by 25% in its beef supply chain in the United States and Canada by 2025. The company has joined the International Consortium for the Management of Antimicrobials in Agriculture via Yum! Brands and actively participates in the American Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.

To improve sustainability, the restaurant tested recyclable and compostable packaging in San Francisco, including a narrower quesadilla bag that doesn’t use plastic. The test will develop in the coming year. Taco Bell also diverted more than 10,000 hot sauce pouches from landfills, reused used cooking oil into renewable diesel or renewable polymers, and was instrumental in Yum’s plan! aiming to reduce greenhouse gases by 46% by 2030 and achieve net zero value. by 2050.