Sustainability, NGOs and the UK food industry
The aim of the research was to assess critically the activities of FFNGOs working within the UK food industry and to explain their role in the emergence of a sustainable food supply chain. The research focused on the experiences of 106 UK based FFNGOs. In addition to an analysis of their websites, 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key officers and directors of these organisations; these were supplemented with an analysis of the corporate social responsibility reports of six major supermarkets to understand how the operations of FFNGOs were viewed by key stakeholders in the food supply chain. Taken together, the results were used to consider the diverse factors that influence the operation of FFNGOs including defining their goals and intervention strategies and identifying the best practices, opportunities and barriers that they face. The research shows how FFNGOs are interacting with private and public stakeholders to redefine governance processes, power and social relations to introduce new values and transform food supply chain practices. The research reveals that FFNGOs have targeted three broad areas: change of production and supply chain processes; creation of more sustainable and competitive products; and, improvements in consumer awareness. To achieve their goals FFNGOs use four approaches: engagement of stakeholders; partnership development; stakeholder empowerment; and, the development of networks. These approaches are being used to manage relations between stakeholders as FFNGOs seek to remove barriers, create platforms and integrate different views to broaden the scope and perspective of food sustainability beyond economics. The research reveals how FFNGOs promote activities and strategies to encourage supply chain stakeholders to adopt sustainability practices and start the transformation of the food supply chain to one that is more inclusive and characterized by responsible use of resources, price equity and the spread of benefits to upstream operators. Concerns remain regarding public sector inertia, consumers’ lack of awareness and private sector apathy, limiting the move towards sustainable practices. The research concludes that, in order to continue the change towards a sustainable supply chain, a key strategy is the development of multi-stakeholder tools and approaches to draw together diverse views and create a shared vision of a sustainable supply chain.
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