2.1.2 The role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the transition towards more Sustainable Food Systems

Since the F&B industry strongly believes that only collective action by civil society, companies, local, national, and international institutions can protect the environment and tackle malnutrition and undernourishment, promote land protection through fair access to natural resources, and ensure that everyone has access to enough safe and nutritious food, one feature at the forefront is the corporate social responsibility (CSR). This is a widely recognized approach nowadays because consumers have become more and more aware of values that go beyond the quality of food products themselves. In fact, consumers now concentrate on aspects like health, environmental impacts, and well-being. In addition, it is worthy to mention that the F&B industry is undoubtedly one of the most sensitive to these aspects, thus moving forward and adapting their processes to new and more sustainable solutions.

It is now clear that the lives of people are greatly impacted by companies’ conducts, not only in terms of the quality of products they provide, but also in terms of the employment and opportunities they generate, not to mention impacts on the environment, protection of human rights, promotion of healthy lifestyle, as well as education and innovation. For companies, CSR is important thanks to its benefits related to cost savings, innovation, and sustainability of operations. For all these reasons, the F&B sector is aware of the effects it has on both the environment and society; in addition, over the years, the EU and other public agencies have been playing a significant role in encouraging and enabling companies to act responsibly: national and EU institutions have introduced a series of voluntary and mandatory actions to promote CSR, while boosting the achievement of the UN 2030 agenda and SDGs.