Evaluation of Social Responsibility in the Selected Food Chain in the Area of Environmental Protection

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives often help businesses in the form of competitive advantage. Because of these initiatives it is difficult to realize the full value of strategic CSR. CSR can be divided into many areas of business, but the most well-known triple bottom line theory divides CSR into 3 basic areas: environmental, social and economic. In this article we reviewed CSR of the wellknown food chain -Lidl in the context of corporate social responsibility. We focused mainly on the environment part of Lidl´s CSR. We described the CSR policy of the retail chain and suggested the necessary improvements. Our aim was to focus specifically on Lidl's actions and to point out the perception of their programs to deal with food waste, as this is currently a serious problem. The question of food waste is very important nowadays, because we have problems with hunger in some countries and on the other hand we have food waste problems because of the surplus of food. Distribution should be more even. Large food chains such as Lidl have an important role to play in wasting food. The problem of the food waste affects similar food chains much more, as food demand is steadily increasing. Food losses and food waste are responsible for 3.3 trillion tons of greenhouse gases. Improving the situation of food losses and food waste is considered to be a significant factor in reducing emissions.