What are South African food retailers' corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability programs/activities

Abstract

The consultancy report was intended to evaluate the CSR, social and environmental initiatives, and ethical behaviour of South African food retailers and how their efforts are being communicated to stakeholders. This was done with a view to make a recommendation to one of the companies as to how they compared with their peers and suggesting possible improvements. The key question in the consultancy report explores how the four well-known food retailers are communicating their social and environmental activities to stakeholders. The study examined the Integrated Annual Reports of four wellknown food retailers in South Africa, exploring how they are communicating their social and environmental activities to stakeholders and the types of initiatives they run. The study was conducted by means of Qualitative Content Analysis and shows the extent to which retailers bring ethical, social and environmental aspects to into the food retail environment and communicating this to stakeholders. Qualitative Content Analysis systematically describes the meaning of qualitative material. Retailers have various projects in place to assist communities and minimise their environmental impacts. The report concludes with recommendations as to how best to improve social and environmental reporting.