Food is the most important pillar industry for people's livelihoods. With the development of the economy, the demand for food among the public has increased from "satisfying oneself" to "eating well". Nowadays, more and more enterprises are sensing the changes in social needs and consciously combining their business activities with social issues. By fulfilling social responsibilities, they can not only meet social needs but also gain core competitiveness.

Scholars have pointed out that there is a consensus in society that good social responsibility performance can reflect a company's comprehensive management ability and future long-term sustainable development level. More and more investors and consumers are paying attention to companies with good social responsibility behavior.

The practice of social responsibility in food enterprises faces new challenges

The Social Responsibility Research Center of Beijing Institute of Technology recently released the "Analysis Report on Social Responsibility Behaviors of Chinese Food Enterprises from 2020 to 2021" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), which points out that currently, the social responsibility of food enterprises presents multidimensional manifestations, and the practice of social responsibility also faces new challenges.

According to data, in 2021, there were over 30000 food industry enterprises above designated size nationwide, and the assets of these enterprises accounted for over 6% of the total assets of industrial enterprises above designated size in China. They are truly a pillar industry of the national economy and an important driving force for China's economic growth. However, as of October 31, 2021, the editorial board of the "Research and Analysis Report on Corporate Social Responsibility in the Chinese Food Industry (2021)" has collected through various channels that only 68 food industry enterprises issued social responsibility reports that year. Compared with the number of enterprises above a certain scale in the food industry, the number of enterprises that issued social responsibility reports is very small, and only a few leading enterprises have established a regular disclosure mechanism for social responsibility reports. Among them, less than 50% of corporate social responsibility reports disclose the requirements and expectations of stakeholders, as well as communication channels and methods with stakeholders.

"Social responsibility is not only a responsibility and cost, but also a competitive advantage. Only by integrating social responsibility into their development strategy and promoting every enterprise in the value chain to fulfill social responsibility well, can companies better leverage the competitive advantage of social responsibility.".

Xu Jian, Deputy Secretary General of the China Food Industry Association, stated in a media interview that currently, many food companies still have insufficient awareness of the importance of social responsibility information disclosure, lack of targeted communication with stakeholders, low comparability and credibility of social responsibility report information disclosure, and other issues. "The awareness and ability of food companies' social responsibility information disclosure still need to be strengthened," he said.

Chen Hongbo, the person in charge of Hongban.com, told the New Express reporter that branded enterprises attach more importance to food safety. Some small and medium-sized enterprises, who are eager for quick success or have problems with their strength, have indeed done relatively poorly in this regard. "There has been significant progress in recent years," he said.