Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability in Food Industry

Business Ethics Responsibility
& Sustainability
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1. Key challenges related to corporate social responsibility & sustainability in food industry...3
2. Analyse and explain what you consider to be 'best practice' within the sector, making
references to ethical and moral issues.........................................................................................7
3. Recommendations for businesses in the sector to show they are being more responsible by
taking into account global considerations....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the duty of business organisations towards the
society based on the idea that business organisations earn its profit out of the society and its
resources and thus, it is the duty of these organisations to give something back to the society
(Hopkins, 2012). This project report aims at evaluation of the key challenges in the food industry
in corporate responsibility and sustainability. It also aims at examining and evaluation of how
different organisations are adapting to discharge their social responsibilities effectively and
efficiently. At last, the project aims at giving some recommendations for other business
organisations in the industry to improve their ranking in terms of CSR and sustainability
standing.
TASK 1
1. Key challenges related to corporate social responsibility & sustainability in food industry.
Corporate social responsibility is a concept which encourages the managers to involve and
integrate environmental and social concerns in their organisational and business operations and
interaction with the stakeholders. It is the equivalent of business ethics. It is based on the
fundamental responsibility of the business organisations to contribute to the environment and the
society from which it is deriving its profits and revenues. CSR, as a concept and business
practice, is of high relevance and importance for the food industry. Food industry is concerned
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with providing basic human needs and all the aspects related to food industry has a strong and
influential impact on public and personal health of the population. This makes it necessary for
all the business organisations in the food industry to take extreme care of its social responsibility
and sustainability. Many models have been developed which helps the business organisations to
better under the concept of CSR and its implications. One of the model being discussed here is
Carroll’s four part pyramid. This model was framed by taking into consideration the entire
spectrum of business ethics and responsibilities which are expected by the society from an
organisation and then classifying each responsibility into one of the four categories which are:
The four categories are in the order of importance are: Economic, Legal, Ethical &
Philanthropic. Economic challenges in CSR faced by food industry includes providing enough
employment opportunities and remaining profitable for its shareholders. Legal responsibility of
food industry included compliance with all the rules and regulations. Ethical responsibility
relates to the moral conduct of the business organisations and philanthropic responsibility relates
to the personal discretion of the organisations and contributing to the societal benefits at large (Jo
and Harjoto, 2012). This model is widely accepted by business organisations to identify to
various responsibilities related with the society and environment in which the business operates.
Over the last few years, CSR efforts had become an important and most relevant part of the
core activities of business organisations in food industry and particularly for those industries
having high-value customer brands. CSR is a wide area and its scope extends to many different
segments which are influenced under it. Company has to face a lot of challenges in taking care of
its social responsibility and sustainability. These challenges of CSR in food industry can be
better understood with the help of seven different dimensions which are as follows:
Food industry and environmental responsibility:
The environmental protection and sustainability challenge being faced by the food
industry relates with the use of energy from various sources and adopting measures which help
in mitigation of the emission of green house gases and carbon footprints. The companies are
being encouraged and challenged to use more energy from sources which are renewable and
create less pressure on the ecological balance (Karnani, 2014). Food industry is one of the major
industry which relies heavily on consumption of energy to convert raw food materials into edible
items. Moreover, all the restaurants and food bars include a huge consumption of electricity for
in-house dining services and equipment’s like A.C. and Television. This increases the challenge
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