Abstract
Although corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly widespread, research on how companies integrate it is still relatively scarce. The aim of this article is to analyse how the agrifood co-ops that invest in this process develop their economic, environmental and social sustainability. While cooperatives are undoubtedly companies that are part of the social and solidarity-based economy, does this make them inherently more responsible than commercial companies? Using a survey of existing reference sources and adopting Porter’s ‘shared value’ approach, we examine ISO 26000, the only international voluntary norm for CSR. Our hypothesis is that, if they are to ensure full commitment to CSR, these co-ops need to rethink their relations with all their stakeholders. Our methodology employs an original database of the concrete commitments of all the co-ops engaged in this reference framework completed by interviews. The results show that (1) greater proximity to consumers is a major motivation for them to innovate and adopt sustainability practices, thereby rendering (2) the distinction between large and small co-ops less significant. Our findings also suggest that in the absence of legal constraints, a local eco-system combining sustainable supply chains to create and share added value with all stakeholders could prove an effective incentive, with positive impacts on both global and local levels.
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Notes
The SDG Compass provides guidance for companies on how they can align their strategies as well as measure and manage their contribution to the realisation of the SDGs (https://sdgcompass.org).
The assessment results in a score, out of 1000 points, which ranks the organisation on one of four levels: from 1 to 30 points: Initial; from 301 to 500 points: Progression; from 501 to 700 points: Confirmed; 701 points and over: Exemplary (Afnor, Assessment guide AFAQ 26000, https://fr.slideshare.net/GroupeAFNOR/guide-afaq-26000-entreprises-en).
The experts were from Afnor certification, Plateforme RSE, Agri Confiance® advisory and standardisation consultants.
French reporting regulation: Legal Ordinance No 2017-1180 July 19, 2017 relative to non-financial information publication by corporate groups. Decree No 2017-1265 August 9, 2017 pursuant to Ordinance No 2017-1180 of July 19. For EU Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and Council of October 22, 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU in what concerns publication for non-financial sustainability reporting and diversity information by corporate groups (Coop de France 2018b, 137).
In 2017, Dephy Ferme network was composed of 2800 farms (http://www.ecophytopic.fr).
Agri Confiance® is based on the implementation of a certification: standard Afnor NF V01-007: ‘management system for the quality and the environment of agricultural production’, which extends ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
The Social Responsibility report is compulsory for companies with more than 500 employees (Art. 225 of the Grenelle 2 Law).
This has since been completed by its food sectorial variation, Agreement ISO/TS 26030, published in December 2019.
Special thanks to Benjamin Perdreau, in charge of CSR and Valorise Plateforme at La Coopération Agricole for data and comments. The interpretation is mine alone.
Created in 2017, it brings together 4 professional federations, namely Ania (agro-food industries), Coop de France (coops), FCD (associated trade) and FEEF (Federation of Enterprises and Entrepreneurs of France).
3D was chosen for the quality of its information. Eleven companies in 2008, 8 in 2009, 33 in 2010, 9 in 2011, 23 in 2012, 26 in 2013, 17 in 2014, 28 in 2015, 20 in 2016 and 11 in 2017 (Coop de France 2018b).
For HEV2, the Ministry indicated 2000 farms and 31 co-ops with Agri Confiance® commitment (https://agriculture.gouv.fr/la-haute-valeur-environnementale-une-mention-valorisante-pour-les-agriculteurs-et-leurs-pratiques).
The assessment results in a score out of 1000 points that ranks the organisation on one of four levels: from 1 to 300 points: initial, 301 to 500 points: progression, 501 to 700 points: confirmed and over 701 points: exemplary (Afnor, Assessment guide AFAQ 26000, https://fr.slideshare.net/GroupeAFNOR/guide-afaq-26000-entreprises-en).
Pierre Philippe is the CEO of Vignerons de Buzet and Chairman of ISO/TS 26030 Commission. The role of Vignerons de Buzet was corroborated by Agri Confiance® consultants on the creation of collective 3D.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the participants of the ICA Research Conference held in Berlin (August 2018) and the JRSS Days held in Nantes (December 2018) for fruitful discussions and the reviewers for their helpful comments, translation expertise and the review.
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Filippi, M. Do French agrifood co-ops have a head start in Corporate Social Responsibility? An initial examination of French co-ops and their practices. Rev Agric Food Environ Stud 101, 489–506 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-020-00131-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41130-020-00131-x