Food Service / Restaurants

Nando's sustainability score: 37/100

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About Nando's

Nando's is a casual dining chain specializing in flame-grilled peri-peri chicken, founded in Johannesburg in 1987 and now operating in 35+ countries. A private company with 1,200+ restaurants, it competes in the global quick-service and casual dining sector alongside McDonald's, KFC, and regional chains.

Founded 1987Head office Johannesburg, South AfricaStaff ~19,000Revenue ~£1.37BWebsite ↗

Our verdict

Nando's operates 1,200+ outlets globally with minimal public emissions data despite SBTi validation. Supply chain deforestation and active 2025 water pollution allegations expose fundamental weaknesses in accountability. Intensity-based targets and UK-only renewable electricity claims mask unresolved operational and supply chain impact.

Nando's scores 37/100 (Below expectations) 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 Nando's joint 482nd of 934 companies scored, and 19th of 51 in Food Service / Restaurants.

The ten questions

What is Nando's doing well, and where does it fall short?

Strongest on Energy Source and Targets & Commitments (6/10, 5/10). Weakest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Water Impact (2/10, 2/10).

What's missing

Where Nando's lost points

For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.

  • Emissions from its own operations2/10No emissions figures for its own operations, not even an estimate from energy bills.
  • Emissions from its supply chain3/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
  • Whether its emissions are falling3/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
  • How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
  • Its effect on nature3/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
  • 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 targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
  • How openly it reports3/10No published sustainability data, or no one named as responsible for it.
  • Its record on controversies5/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.

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.

The calculation

How is Nando's's SINK score calculated?

Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.

SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × Scale
Industry base impact
Food Service / Restaurants sector ceiling.
45 / 100
Performance score
Sum of the ten questions, each scored 0 to 10.
36 / 100
Raw score
Weighted average before scale penalty.
(0.3 × 45) + (0.7 × 36) = 38.7
Scale penalty
Multiplier based on total emissions. Bigger polluters lose more.
× 0.95
Final score
Rounded. Below expectations.
37 / 100
Where the evidence comes from

What evidence is Nando's's score based on?

12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.

17% of them were published by Nando's itself; the rest come from independent sources.

Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.

10 of 12 sources are independent of the company.

[1]Independent source
DitchCarbon — Nando's Emissions Data
Unknown
Q1Q8
View →
[2]Self-reported
Nando's Sustainability
Unknown
Q1Q4Q6Q9
View →
[3]Independent source
Food Foundation — Nando's Scorecard 2022
2022
Q2
View →
[4]Public record
Living Business — Nando's Carbon Footprint Support
Unknown
Q2Q6
View →
[5]Public record
Edie — Nando's Zero-Carbon Direct Emissions Commitment
Unknown
Q3Q4Q8
View →
[6]Independent source
Statista — Nando's Revenue (UK)
Unknown
Q3
View →
[7]Independent source
Greenpeace Unearthed — Brazil Fires Deforestation Investigation
2020
Q5Q10
View →
[8]Self-reported
Nando's UK — Food & Sustainability
Unknown
Q5
View →
[9]Independent source
River Action UK — Your Chicken Is Killing Our Rivers
2025
Q7Q10
View →
[10]Public record
Plant Based News — Jim Murray on Nando's Rivers
2025
Q7
View →
[11]Independent source
Sustainability Tracker — Nando's Profile
Unknown
Q9
View →
[12]Public record
West Country Voices — Your Chicken Is Killing Our Rivers Environmental Impact
2025
Q9
View →

If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.

For Nando's

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    Nando's: SINK sustainability score 37/100.

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Nando's in context

How does Nando's compare with other food service / restaurants companies?

Where Nando's sits among food service / restaurants peers.

Among the 51 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Nando's sits 19th of 51.

19/51
Nando's's rank
34
Industry average
19
Industry low
51
Industry high
See all 51 in Food Service / Restaurants →
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