Chick-fil-A sustainability score: 23/100
Chick-fil-A is the largest chicken-focused quick-service restaurant chain in the US, privately held and headquartered in Atlanta. It operates 3,100+ restaurants across North America with plans for international expansion.
More about Chick-fil-A
The chain is known for its chicken sandwiches, drive-through model, and closed-on-Sundays policy. It ranks among the top five US restaurant chains by systemwide sales.
Founded 1946Head office Atlanta, Georgia, USStaff ~200,000Revenue ~$9B (corporate), ~$22.7B (systemwide sales)Website ↗
Chick-fil-A operates 3,000+ restaurants generating $22.7B in systemwide sales with no disclosed emissions data, no science-based targets, and no renewable energy strategy beyond three pilot solar projects. The company refuses to report Scope 1, 2, or 3 emissions despite completing internal assessments. Food waste diversion is its only quantified environmental win.
Chick-fil-A scores 23/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Chick-fil-A joint 849th of 934 companies scored, and 48th of 51 in Food Service / Restaurants.
What is Chick-fil-A doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Resource Use & Waste (8/10, 4/10). Weakest on Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain and Emissions Trajectory (0/10, 0/10).
Where Chick-fil-A lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations1/10No emissions figures for its own operations, not even an estimate from energy bills.
- Emissions from its supply chain0/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- Whether its emissions are falling0/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is1/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature1/10No evidence it knows its main risks to nature.
- How it uses materials and handles waste4/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water2/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets1/10No emissions reduction targets.
- How openly it reports3/10No published sustainability data, or no one named as responsible for it.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Chick-fil-A's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Chick-fil-A's score based on?
13 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
23% of them were published by Chick-fil-A itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 5 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
10 of 13 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Chick-fil-A compare with other food service / restaurants companies?
Where Chick-fil-A sits among food service / restaurants peers.
Among the 51 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Chick-fil-A sits 48th of 51.
Who scores higher in Food Service / Restaurants?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Chick-fil-A.
Dunkin' discloses almost no quantitative sustainability data despite operating 13,000+ restaurants globally.
See the breakdown →Burger King's sustainability performance is dominated by supply chain deforestation, greenwashing, and a beef-heavy business model that fundamentally conflicts with emissions reduction.
See the breakdown →Caravan publishes no emissions figures, and its accounts fall below the threshold for reporting them, so the size deduction for no own figure (0.70x) applies.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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