In honor of Earth Day, Dunkin’s Sustainability Manager, Danielle Wood, gave the inside scoop on all-things sustainability at Dunkin’. From the brand’s collaboration with One Tree Planted to the new Farmworker Training Project in Honduras, Dunkin’ is committed to having a positive impact on its guests, communities and the world around us.

Keep reading to learn more about our Sustainability Manager and what sustainability means to Dunkin’!

How did you become a Sustainability Manager?

I have been with Dunkin’ for four years! I started as a Risk Management Intern and was then hired full-time while completing my MBA in Global Supply Chain Management and Sustainability. When the opportunity arose to work on our sustainability efforts, I immediately jumped on it. This role has given me the ability to think strategically about our investments and how we can get our community more involved with our initiatives.

What are some of Dunkin’s recent coffee sustainability initiatives?

To name a few, we have teamed up with One Tree Planted, a non-profit that’s helping the environment by planting trees in countries around the world. We also recently began our Farmworker Training Project in Honduras. This is a pilot training program that aims to empower our suppliers with the necessary information and tools to make improvements on sustainability issues within our supply chain.

There have been many sustainability programs implemented since you have been working at Dunkin’. What has been the most impactful program you’ve worked on?

The most impactful program I have worked on was when we assessed a portion of our supply chain to understand our gap areas. This has led to my favorite program now, which is the Farmworker Training Project in Honduras. We are working directly with the supplier team on the ground in Honduras to help farmers better understand sustainability issues within the supply chain. Working with the farmers is one of my favorite parts of this job because a lot of times they are left out of the conversation about sustainability.

Congratulations on your appointment to the Sustainable Coffee Challenge Advisory Council! What is this council and why is it important to Dunkin’?

Dunkin’ has been a member of the Sustainable Coffee Challenge since 2018. The Sustainable Coffee Challenge is made up of a council of representatives from companies, governments, NGOs, research institutions and others to advise and lead outreach and partner engagement on key issues in coffee to ensure progress towards the Challenge’s 2025 target and 2050 goals. After joining the four Challenge working groups throughout the past two years, I was appointed to the Council in January. Our goal as the council is to drive the strategic vision of the Challenge.

Why is sustainability vital to Dunkin’s future?

Sustainability is important to Dunkin’ for so many reasons. From a business perspective, sustainability is a vital piece of the shopping experience. We are now seeing our guests associate the health of their food with the health of the planet. That core mindset is making consumers more mindful about what they are purchasing. We want to make sure we are purposeful and driven toward what our guests value. It is important for Dunkin’ to stand for something and make investments that make sense for the business and the planet.

If there is one piece of advice you could give, what would it be?

I urge everyone in the community to be an advocate for sustainability. We need more advocates in this space and more people engaged on this topic. It takes a village because we cannot do this alone!