Yum China operates over 16,000 Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut outlets, among other brands, across China, making it the country’s largest restaurant company. Born from Yum Brands’ 2016 decision to spin off its China operations into an independent company, Yum China now generates more revenue than its erstwhile U.S. parent. Yum China is now experimenting with more locally inspired fare, while foraying into China’s second- and third-tier cities to reach new markets. Yum China is one of a few Fortune 500 companies to generate almost all of its revenue outside the U.S.
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Change the World 2025
According to the United Nations, one-fifth of the total food available to consumers—about 290 pounds (132 kg) per year for every person on the planet—goes to waste. Redistributing that surplus food can be both a lifesaving benefit for the food-insecure, and a solution to an environmental problem (since decaying food emits greenhouse gases). In 2020, Yum China—which operates roughly 17,000 KFC and Pizza Hut fast food outlets across China and brought in $11.3 billion in revenue in 2024—launched its Food Bank program, distributing surplus food to those in need. Over 1,000 stations in over 180 cities have saved more than 1,600 tons of food, enough to feed 4,000 people for a year, since the program’s launch. Yum China’s success was included as a case study in how China’s new charity law, which encourages more charitable activities to be community-based, was implemented. Food waste is a priority for the company: Yum China wants to reduce its food waste by 10% by 2030, compared with its 2020 baselines.
