Texan by Nature is excited to recognize YETI as a 2022 TxN 20 honoree for their leadership in conservation and sustainability. YETI’s commitment to conservation, their projects, programs, best practices, and lessons learned are an example and inspiration for us all.

Honoree Industry and Size: YETI, Retail – Mid

Company Overview: Headquartered in Austin, Texas, YETI Holdings, Inc. (YETI) is a global designer, retailer, and distributor of innovative, durable outdoor products. Our products are built to meet the unique and varying needs of diverse outdoor pursuits, from the remote wilderness to the beach, and anywhere else life takes you. We are relentless in our pursuit of building superior products for people to enjoy life outdoors and beyond. We are powered by over 800 full-time employees, whom we refer to as YETIzens.

What is YETI’s conservation and sustainability mission and why is it important to your culture?
YETI’s sustainability vision is to create a healthy, thriving, and inclusive WILD for generations to come. To bring this to life, we are focused on high-performing, durable and low impact products that connect people and their pursuits to restoring the WILD.  Our culture is made up of passionate YETIzens who have a deep love for the outdoors and are motivated to Keep the Wild WILD.  Our sustainability strategy aligns our internal teams with our goals and policies to drive progress and performance against the priority sustainability and conversation issues within our business operations and supply chain.

How is conservation and sustainability a part of YETI’s business strategy?
YETI has an unwavering commitment to the outdoors and recreation, from fishing the Gulf Coast to scaling the American Rockies or visiting the park down the street. We are relentless in our pursuit of building superior products for people to enjoy life outdoors and beyond and defend against climate change. Our value chain flows from product design to manufacturing to the ways our products are used to enhance our consumers’ pursuits of the WILD. At each step, we aim to address our environmental impact. 

As a brand that was born from deep passion and respect for the outdoors, we understand the important role we play in ensuring it is healthy, thriving, and inclusive for generations to come. Climate change is already threatening the outdoor industry and outdoor participation everywhere. The WILD is a place that fosters discovery and curiosity, bringing people and communities together. It encourages health and wellbeing where outdoor passions are passed down from generation to generation. The actions we take today where ecosystems are restored, land and water are conserved, and habitat are reintroduced contribute to a climate and nature positive future.

In 2021, we shared our holistic strategy and goals to address our role to preserve the long-term health and equity of the planet as well as the people and communities we impact.

What are your YETI’s short and long-term goals as they relate to conservation and sustainability?
In 2021 we established our first set of public-facing goals to reduce out impact on the planet while having a positive impact on the people and places we love – all while creating innovative, durable, and high-performing products. These 23 goals aim to drive progress across our sustainability and social impact agenda.

• People – YETI aims to create positive social impact for the people in our workforce, supply chain, and communities. 
• Product – YETI is expanding on our commitment to high-performing, durable, and built for the WILD products by separating our growth from our products’ environmental impact.
• Places – YETI believes the more time we spend outside, the more we understand our responsibility to protect the places we love. YETI supports our partners and communities in restoration actions that will regenerate our planet and WILD spaces.

Our greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction goals represent our ambition and commitment to reduce our contribution to climate change.  As we build our foundation of meaningful climate action, management and decarbonization, YETI continues to grow rapidly. Through our relationships with manufacturing suppliers, third-party logistics providers, industry associations, and nonprofit organizations, we are focused on improving efficiencies in our operations and accelerating carbon reduction efforts. Full list of goals may be found here.

Who at YETI is leading your conservation and sustainability efforts and what are some examples of employee engagement in conservation and sustainability at your company?
Our ESG team is responsible for evaluating environmental and social topics and driving day-to-day management and progress against our ESG goals. 

To support YETIzens’ ability to get into and support the WILD, we offer opportunities to dedicate one full day of work annually to volunteering. In 2021 and 2022, YETI created volunteer events with organizations such as the Colorado River Alliance, Code2College, Breakthrough Texas, and more. For Earth Day 2022, YETIzens volunteered over 100 hours with Austin FC and the Colorado River Alliance to help remove 6,000 pounds of debris from the Colorado River and the surrounding parks in Austin. This makes the river a more enjoyable spot for paddle boarding and kayaking and helps reduce the impact of plastic pollution in this important aquatic ecosystem.

What conservation and sustainability programs and projects does YETI lead and participate in?

At YETI, we support a variety of community partners in their mission to unlock access and connection to the WILD for our consumers and communities. One of our longest and most important partnerships is with Captains For Clean Water, a leader in advocating for the protection of critical aquatic ecosystems around the United States. YETI is proud to support an organization dedicated to protecting the WILD by uniting outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists from all backgrounds and empowering them to make meaningful change. As part of a recent campaign to restore America’s Everglades, YETI joined dozens of outdoor industry brands in calling for the Army Corp of Engineers to revise its water management plans for Lake Okeechobee and South Florida to provide desperately needed relief to the estuaries and Everglades. By lending our voice and support to Captains For Clean Water, we help amplify the sense of urgency for protecting and restoring the WILD. Others include:

• Working with Conservation International to create a zero-waste and carbon-balanced snowboarding event, the YETI Natural Selection at Jackson Hole, which integrated environmental education and advocacy efforts. 
• Contributing annually to the Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance to help offset costs for mountain goat surveys with state wildlife agencies and goat relocation efforts in their native ranges. This helps state agencies allocate the proper amount of hunting permits for the following year. 
• Our ongoing partnership with Ducks Unlimited aids in the protection of a critical wintering habitat for a massive percentage of North America’s migrating waterfowl species from the pressure of environmental degradation and climate change. A portion of our annual sponsorship is designated for Ducks Unlimited’s Gulf Coast Initiative, aimed at protecting waterfowl habitats in YETI’s own backyard.

How do you see the future of conservation and sustainability evolving, and what role will YETI play in that progress?
As a brand that was born from deep passion and respect for the outdoors, we understand the important role we play in ensuring it is healthy, thriving, and inclusive for generations to come. Climate change is already threatening the outdoor industry and outdoor participation everywhere. The WILD is a place that fosters discovery and curiosity, bringing people and communities together. It encourages health and wellbeing where outdoor passions are passed down from generation to generation. The actions we take today where ecosystems are restored, land and water are conserved, and habitat are reintroduced contribute to a climate and nature positive future.

How does YETI quantify investment and return on conservation and sustainability?
We have set goals and targets and measure our progress annually. Each of our strategy focus areas includes both quantitative and qualitative targets.  

What is the one lesson that YETI has learned from your conservation and sustainability efforts that others can take back and think about applying within their own space?
Creating a positive impact is an ongoing journey. There is no finish line. Setting goals is just the beginning and requires engagement, collaboration, and commitment across an organization. Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. Even incremental change can have big impact. Define your focus areas and priorities and bring the organization along. Everyone in your organization plays a role in making a positive environmental and social impact. 

Why is Texas an important home or base of operations for YETI?
YETI was born in Texas and celebrates its rich environmental beauty and diversity. We are committed to being good stewards in our communities and ensuring we have a positive impact on the land, water and biodiversity that make Texas unique. We look forward to working with community partners to conserve and restore our natural resources so they are healthy and thriving for future generations.  

Learn more about YETI’s conservation and sustainability efforts here.