ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Restaurant Brands International and Tyson Foods, Inc. have joined the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (R.T.R.S.) as members of the organization in its Industry, Trade and Finance constituency. The R.T.R.S. promotes responsible production, processing and trading of soy on a global level and its members represent all parts of the soy value chain and members of civil society from around the world.

As part of its commitment to the R.T.R.S., Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson plans to enhance the sustainability of its supply chain specific to animal feed, said Maggie Jo Hansen, senior commodity analyst, international and sustainability, at Tyson Foods.

“We will acquire R.T.R.S. certified material for the soybean meal used to feed chickens in our supply chain, which generally comes from areas identified as ‘high risk,’” she said. “In addition, we hope to identify other opportunities to work with R.T.R.S. in order to guarantee sustainable soy practices globally.”

For Toronto-based R.B.I., parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes, joining the association was a step toward achieving its sustainability goals in the next decade.

“R.B.I. made a commitment to eliminating deforestation from its global supply chain by 2030 and much remains to be done with many of our suppliers,” said Natalie Pecile, sustainability manager at R.B.I. “We decided to join R.T.R.S. in order to understand which is the best way to turn commitments into action.”

Tyson and R.B.I. were two of seven organizations to join the R.T.R.S. in the last quarter of 2019. Others included: Vall Cos., an integrated livestock company in Spain and Portugal; Avena Nordic Grain Oy, a trader of grains and oilseeds in Finland; Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-profit international organization that promotes companies and governments to protect the environment; Brazil’s Institute for Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification; and Geofarm Precision Agriculture, an agronomic consultancy, also based in Brazil.