Do food retailers perceive benefits from the implementation of the SDGs? Are they a motivation for businesses to participate more to the SDGs?

Details

Supervisors

Desmet, Carlos

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to verify if food retailers perceive benefits from implementing actions for the Sustainable Development Goals, and more generally if the SDGs are a good framework for Corporate Social Responsibility among supermarkets. If the companies are expected to become ambassadors of the Goals, it seems essential that the SDGs not only call to a moral duty but also bring benefits to companies. This specific focus on food resellers was chosen because they are embedded in an industry that is an essential leverage for a big change towards sustainability, and because their position in the food system is particular: they are situated between an upward stream that has a lot of negative impacts on the world, and a downward stream on which they have a lot influence. Two analyses are done in this work, the first one helps to understand the degree of implementation of the SDGs among the 5 biggest food retailers operating in Belgium. The second one is a qualitative analysis that helps establish if retailers capture some benefits from the Goals. The interviews allowed to show that food retailers do not capture most of the benefits, except from a better communication to stakeholders.