Global supermarkets’ corporate social responsibility commitments to public health: a content analysis

Abstract

BackgroundSupermarkets have unprecedented political and economic power in the food system and an inherent responsibility to demonstrate good corporate citizenship via corporate social responsibility (CSR). The aim of this study was to investigate the world’s largest and most powerful supermarkets’ publically available CSR commitments to determine their potential impact on public health.MethodsThe world’s largest 100 retailers were identified using the Global Powers of Retailing report. Thirty-one supermarkets that published corporate reports referring to CSR or sustainability, in English, between 2013 and 2018, were included and thematically analysed.ResultsAlthough a large number of themes were identified (n = 79), and there were differences between each business, supermarket CSR commitments focused on five priorities: donating surplus food to charities for redistribution to feed the hungry; reducing and recovering food waste; sustainably sourcing specific ingredients including seafood, palm oil, soy and cocoa; governance of food safety; and growing the number of own brand foods available, that are made by suppliers to meet supermarkets’ requirements.ConclusionsCSR commitments made by 31 of the world’s largest supermarkets showed they appeared willing to take steps to improve sustainable sourcing of specific ingredients, but there was little action being taken to support health and nutrition. Although some supermarket CSR initiatives showed promise, the world’s largest supermarkets could do more to use their power to support public health. It is recommended they should: (1) transparently report food waste encompassing the whole of the food system in their waste reduction efforts; (2) support healthful and sustainable diets by reducing production and consumption of discretionary foods, meat, and other ingredients with high social and environmental impacts; (3) remove unhealthful confectionery, snacks, and sweetened beverages from prominent in-store locations; (4) ensure a variety of minimally processed nutritious foods are widely available; and (5) introduce initiatives to make healthful foods more affordable, support consumers to select healthful and sustainable foods, and report healthful food sales as a proportion of total food sales, using transparent criteria for key terms.

Benchmarking the Nutrition-Related Policies and Commitments of Major Food Companies in Australia, 2018

“…With regard to supermarkets, a 2018 study examining corporate social responsibility reporting of the largest 100 supermarkets globally found that whilst supermarkets had taken action to report on sustainability-related issues, there was a limited focus on nutrition and health [ 35 ]. This aligns with the findings of BIA-Obesity Australia 2018 , where supermarkets had limited disclosure around nutrition-related policies and commitments and scored low overall.…”

Introduction of highly effective proactive food safety management programs into food distribution channels: For safe food labeling and safe advertisements

“…Administrative support is limited (Park, Kim, You, You, Kim, et al, ; Park, Kim, You, You, & Yun, ). Therefore, a proactive management framework is needed as part of another CSR activity (Pulker et al, ) for representative distribution channels.…”

Unpack the Salt: An evaluation of the Victorian Salt Reduction Partnership’s media advocacy activities to highlight the salt content of different foods

“…Some foods are harder to reformulate than others due to technical and functional roles of salt, such as its use as a preservative in many products, role in the control of yeast growth and fermentation in bread, and role in sensory and textural properties in processed meats [50]; and manufacturers of these product types may be more likely to be looking for support. Lastly, the lack of sodium targets for these processed foods at the time of these media releases meant that there was no incentive for manufacturers to reformulate other than corporate social responsibility [51]. After the VSRP campaign, in May 2020, the federal government announced the rst wave of voluntary sodium targets for manufacturers to meet by 2024, which include four VSRP targeted categories: bread, cooking sauces, crackers (not dips), and selected processed meats [52].…”