Food Waste, Power, and Corporate Social Responsibility
in the Australian Food Supply Chain
Bree Devin
1
•
Carol Richards
2
Received: 4 November 2015 / Accepted: 13 April 2016 / Published online: 27 April 2016
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
Abstract By examining corporate social responsibility
(CSR) and power within the context of the food supply
chain, this paper illustrates how food retailers claim to
address food waste while simultaneously setting standards
that result in the large-scale rejection of edible food on
cosmetic grounds. Specifically, this paper considers the
powerful role of food retailers and how they may be con-
sidered to be legitimately engaging in socially responsible
behaviors to lower food waste, yet implement practices that
ultimately contribute to higher levels of food waste else-
where in the supply chain. Through interviews with key
actors in the Australian fresh fruit and vegetable supply
chain, we highlight the existence of a legitimacy gap in
corporate social responsibility whereby undesirable
behaviors are pushed elsewhere in the supply chain. It is
argued that the structural power held by Australia’s retail
duopoly means that supermarkets are able to claim virtuous
and responsible behaviors, despite counter claims from
within the fresh food industry that the food supermarkets’
private quality standards mean that fresh food is wasted.
We argue that the supermarkets claim CSR kudos for
reducing food waste at the expense of other supply chain
actors who bear both the economic cost and the moral
burden of waste, and that this is a consequence of super-
markets’ remarkable market power in Australia.
Keywords Corporate social responsibility (CSR) Á
Supermarkets Á Food waste Á Power Á Food supply chain
Introduction
Food waste is often raised as a concern, particularly in the
context of food security, climate change, and environ-
mental sustainability. With the global food system highly
corporatized and major corporations responsible for the
production, distribution, and sale of food, their role in
generating or minimizing food waste has come under
increasing scrutiny (Eriksson et al. 2014; Scholz et al.
2014). The often obscure nature of food waste means it is
impossible to know definitively how much food is wasted
across supply chains globally, however, researchers have
claimed the proportion of food wasted is somewhere
between 25 and 40 % of food produced for markets (Gu-
nasekera 2015; Patel 2008).
In Australia, the site of this study, Edwards and Mercer
(2012) estimate that 44 million tons of food is wasted
annually. Morgan (2009) also conducted research on food
waste in Australia, highlighting a dearth of information and
recommending a national survey on the extent of food
waste. Australia has one of the most highly concentrated
food retailer sectors in the world, with the retail duopoly
(Coles and Woolworths) holding over 70 % of food retail
market share (Tonkin 2016). As such, the supermarket
duopoly is a significant actor regarding responses to food
waste. Indeed, the supermarkets themselves make claims
about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities
in relation to food waste in their CSR reports and other
communications, as will be shown later in this paper.
To better understand food waste in Australia, this paper
examines food waste along the supply chain through the
& Carol Richards
c6.richards@qut.edu.au
1
Queensland University of Technology, Level 10, Z Block,
Gardens Point Campus, 2 George Street, Brisbane,
QLD 4001, Australia
2
Queensland University of Technology, Level 9, Z Block,
Gardens Point Campus, 2 George Street, Brisbane,
QLD 4001, Australia
123
J Bus Ethics (2018) 150:199–210
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3181-z
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