Fast food businesses are following the footsteps of companies in terms of carbon reduction. Burger King announced today that 31% of its business vehicles have been electrified under a drastic decrement of carbon footprint on the path of sustainability.
ESG is a strategic target proposed by many companies for the future. However, the adoption of EVs is one of the fastest options compared to various energy-conserving methods, including reallocation of headquarters and mandatory implementations among employees. In addition, EV adoption is also almost a painless transition.
Take Burger King as an example, the fast food giant has electrified 31% of its vehicles by joining hands with rental service Element Fleet, which not only helped the former in acquiring a large volume of EVs in a swift manner, but also assisted in establishing charging piles. As a result, Burger King has drastically lowered its carbon footprint, and conserved considerable fuel cost amidst the surging prices of gasoline.
Burger King’s business vehicles are mainly used by the sales department, which is responsible for maintaining a positive relationship with channels, suppliers, and other partners. Visiting these partners with EVs is bound to crown Burger King with a different image. “As the frontline of the company, we need to let the market know that we are not just making empty promises on sustainability”, commented Jeromy Gwin, franchise business partner of Burger King, who is proud that the parent company is showing supporting on sustainable approaches.
According to Burger King’s strategic target, the company is expected to replace all business vehicles with EVs throughout the next 6-7 years, though such target is only restricted to North America. Burger King has more than 30K stores in over 100 countries, and it may not be an easy task in accomplishing 100% global electrification.
It is worth noting that Burger King has yet to propose a substantial target on electrification for logistics vehicles as the aforementioned target is only applicable on the “field team”, which could just be restricted to sales, support, and marketing. However, this is not necessarily a large issue since the company would naturally drop in carbon emissions from logistics if corresponding suppliers are also marching towards electrification. The question is whether suppliers of bread, beef, and beverages are ready to make the transformation?
(Cover photo source: Element Fleet)